If I do, so do you
by Empty Pen09
Summary: Identical twins Alex Drake and Spencer Hastings made the decision to both live the life of Spencer Hastings. The rules are simple. Tell each other everything and don't change anything big in Spencer's life without approval. Simple. Alex however, has never been big on rules and Aria Montgomery is so damn beautiful.
1. Chapter 1

Spencer Hasting didn't believe in accidents. Not when it came to Alex Drake. Alex didn't have accidents, things didn't just, slip her mind. When Alex arrived at the small apartment in Brookhaven this Saturday morning, ending her weekly stint as Spencer Hastings, Spencer, the real Spencer, knew she'd changed something in the life they'd shared for the past sixteen months. There was a look of mischief on her face, the hint of a smile on her lips. Something was different now and Alex wouldn't tell her what it was even if she asked.

There had been rules put into place to avoid this exact sort of thing. Neither girl could make big decisions without consulting the other. Alex couldn't, for instance, break up with the boyfriend they shared without talking to Spencer. On the flip side, Spencer couldn't sign them up for mathletes without Alex's explicit consent. The plan worked flawlessly when they followed the rules. When they followed the rules, things went off without a hitch.

Alex didn't always follow the rules though. Occasionally she changed things without permission. It was usually small things, a cooking class, a coffee date with a cute new boy. Things Spencer didn't really have an actual problem with but complained about out of sheer principle. You couldn't change things, that was the rule they'd agreed to when they decided both of them would be Spencer Hastings from now on.

While Alex was off changing things, Spencer spent her week as Alex commuting to Philadelphia and taking courses at Lasalle University. Alex had shockingly agreed to the college idea, but only if they focused on Accounting courses. Spencer had foolishly agreed without a fight expecting them to be turned away from upper-level courses by some stuffy admission counselor. They WERE in fact, barely sixteen at the time, young enough to draw attention when signing up for college courses, and definitely not out of high school. Alex had figured out a way to cheat the system, as she was prone to do, and college courses ended up not being a problem. The only problem was, Spencer found the classes terribly boring.

Suffering through accounting courses twice a day, twice a week, every other week was uncomfortably annoying. It sounded like it should be easy, but it wasn't. Even during the weeks when she didn't go to the college classes she had to study as if she did, or else she'd fall behind. Not having anything else to do for a week helped. She could spend as many hours a day as she needed studying, college, high school, all of it. Most of the time she found herself working ahead. Writing papers that weren't due until next month, reading chapters that weren't assigned, meeting with the professor during office hours to ask questions. In the sixteen months since they'd both began living the life of Spencer Hastings, they'd completed eleven college courses. Next semester Alex wanted to take three more courses, general business courses which combined with their AP courses at Rosewood High, would put them on track to graduate in a year.

Spencer wasn't sure how all of this was going to work out. She'd been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania next fall and her parents expected four years of study. Maybe she could shrink that down to two and a half or three with the AP courses, and the semester of classes she took at Hollis last summer, but no way would she be able to explain being already done with a bachelor's degree. Alex suggested she not worry about it, she had a plan. Spencer wanted to argue but Alex was always right about this sort of thing.

She'd finished her studying by Wednesday night and had spent the rest of the week in her pajamas watching TV. She'd gone to breakfast Friday morning and caught a matinee movie afterwards but otherwise she'd simply been waiting for Saturday afternoon, so she could go back home to Rosewood. Now that she was in her car, heading back, it occurred to her that Alex hadn't given her their usual download.

The only way the plan would work was if they shared everything. They'd learned the first week that the details mattered, the little conversations you held with your friends counted. On their very first switch Alex had a meaningless conversation with Emily about swimming that wasn't conveyed. Emily of course brought up that conversation a week later when Alex was gone, and Spencer was around, and it had turned into a huge fight. Apparently not remembering things about your friends made you look self-absorbed and flaky.

These days they shared everything. Alex had set up a private chat room where they could detail things in real time. Biology teacher makes comment about the test, log it, friends talk about cute boys they like, log it. After a while it became second nature.

The drive back to Rosewood was barely twenty miles but it usually took about half an hour. Spencer usually spent this time getting her head out of Alex mode and back into Spencer mode. Technically there was no Alex anymore but when she wasn't in Rosewood being Spencer who else would she be but Alex.

The sound of Spencer's cellphone broke the silence and when she played the text message through the car's audio system, she saw it was from Aria.

 **Where did you go for the Chinese, Hong Kong? I'm hungry.**

Spencer rolled her eyes and cursed Alex under her breath. She hit the call button on her steering wheel and gave the audio command a command to call Alex.

Alex answered on the first ring, music was already blaring in the background. "Oh, stop off at Mr. Hu's, there's takeout waiting. Its already paid for, so just run in and get it, it'll be ready by the time you get there."

Now, seriously annoyed, Spencer went into big sister mode. "Damnit Alex, you can't forget stuff like that. Aria is waiting for us. She just text me asking me where I was. It doesn't take an hour to get Chinese."

Alex sighed a response. "Sorry, I had a big day," she said with a chuckle. "Well, WE had a big day. Aria is waiting. She's gonna be pretty hungry. Better feed her."

She had definitely changed something. "What did you do?"

Alex only continued to laugh. "Nothing important, relax. Get home. Aria is there waiting."

Spencer cursed again. "Damnit Alex, you gotta tell me stuff like that. I was on my way to her house. How the hell would I explain that? Hey Mrs. Montgomery, is Aria here? No, she's at YOUR house Spencer."

Alex only laughed more. "Like I said, sorry, big day. But on the bright side dinner will be fun."

Spencer opened her mouth to ask what she meant but Alex hung up the phone. She tried calling her back, but Alex didn't answer.

Yeah, this sounds like lots of fun.

* * *

Spencer stepped into her kitchen expecting the house to explode. Instead she found Aria sitting at the counter punching at her iPad. She was in a pair of grey sweats with a black tee-shirt covered in skulls and her hair pulled into a bun. Her eyes lit up when she saw Spencer and something that looked like relief crossed her face.

"Finally. I thought you freaked out and skipped town." There was a hint of something in her voice that Spencer couldn't decipher. Confusion, annoyance, worry, she wasn't sure.

Spencer decided to laugh it off. "Sorry, there was a line so things were backed up, then I dropped the bag in the parking lot and I had to reorder.

"I tried calling you," Aria said softly, her attention shifting to the food. She wasn't looking at Spencer anymore and the change gave Spencer a chill.

"I know, I needed some time to think." It was the sort of thing that always changed the subject. Think about what? The conversation can go anywhere. It was usually full proof. This time however Aria looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, no shit Spence. Are we going to talk about last night or what?"

Spencer wanted to scream. Alex had definitely changed something. Deciding to play it cool she gave Aria a look and raised her eyebrows.  
"Last night, what about it?"

Aria's face tightened, her eyes squinted with intensity, and her mouth opened slightly. That was the wrong thing to say. Whatever had happened last night had been a big deal. Aria's normally chill mode was hard to crack, but when it did, she got vicious. Spencer braced herself for the onslaught.

"What about it? Are you serious? God, I've seen some quick turnarounds but to walk in here acting like last night never happened," she shook her head with annoyance. "I get it, what happened last night doesn't make us a couple or anything Spencer but after last night, and this morning in your shower I thought I would at least rate the obligatory, cuddle session."

Spencer stared open mouthed as Aria grabbed her plastic silverware off the counter. She spent a few seconds fumbling with a box of noodles before slamming down her plastic fork and shaking her head.

"Maybe I should just go home. You want to pretend like last night never happened, fine. It never happened."

What the fuck did Alex do?

"Aria, I'm," Spencer started to say before Aria cut her off again.

"I swear to God you must have gotten body snatched on your way to Chinese."

Close, Spencer thought. "No, I'm good Aria. I'm just trying to decide where we go from here."

Aria sighed with annoyance. "Like I said, don't sweat it. I should know not to believe what someone says when my panties are off and they have their head between my legs."

The words were like nails on a chalkboard. Alex you didn't. Please tell me she didn't.

"Aria," she started to say again.

"Spencer," Aria said almost mockingly.

"Aria sit down and eat your Chinese. We're good."

Spencer dug her phone out of her sweater pocket and logged onto the chat room. The first thing she saw was the note from Alex. Too late to be of any real help but at least it was here.

 _Parents in NYC until Wed. Spent the night with Aria. Had sex. Talked about her secret ex-boyfriend that she never named (Fitz), she almost called him. More sex. Talked about Alison breaking up Emily and Maya. Aria thinks Alison finally saw Emily happy without her and got scared, crap or get off the pot, etc. Hannah is shoplifting again, intervention being discussed among the girls. Waiting on Spencer's decision, tell Hannah's mother or have another intervention. I say intervention, snitches get stiches. Had sex again this morning in the shower. Aria went all 9 ½ weeks. She was hesitant about being the giver instead of the receiver, but she fought through it. Good for a first timer. Super self-conscious about whether she 'did it right'. Needs some hand holding. She probably needs to be cuddled. She's calling this (sex) a weekend sexperiment. Play along. You need to have sex with her too now. Symmetry. (If I DO, so do YOU!) Oh, and I screamed out 'Bloody Hell' with my British accent during orgasm. Aria laughed but asked why I have a fake British accent. Told her I use it to prank call Alison. She didn't believe me, so I used the secret burner phone in the drawer to prove it. Milk shot from her nose when she laughed._

It was just like Alex to casually mention having sex with one of their best friends like it was a game of Monopoly. Alex was always a bit flirty with Aria, Spencer learned that little fact from Emily a while back. Apparently, everyone noticed it, but nobody thought much of it besides Emily, who sensed she had the hots for her. Spencer couldn't deny it, so she called it a harmless girl crush. Emily wasn't convinced but never brought it up again. Alex swore she'd be more careful and from what Spencer could tell she had been. Well, until now.

She wasn't sure how in the course of a week things had gone from harmless flirting to full blown sex, but Alex had a knack for getting her way. If she put her mind to it, she could probably get the Pope into bed, Aria didn't stand a chance. Especially since she was still heartbroken over her secret ex-boyfriend, Mr. Fitz. Alex had no doubt caught her in a moment of vulnerability and used it to her advantage.

Aria was glaring at her, but she clearly didn't want to go home because she sat down immediately and starting fumbling with her plastic fork again.

Symmetry. Rule number one. If I do, so do you. Alex had made them bisexual, without her permission, but there was no unsexing Aria now. If Alex was bisexual, so was she. They were both Spencer Hastings now and she couldn't be Bi every other week.

Spencer walked around the island and stepped closely behind Aria. Aria didn't tense when she did, her body actually relaxed. She wrapped her arms around Aria's tiny frame and gave her a squeeze. For emphasis Spencer closed her eyes and gave Aria's neck a playful nibble. She smelled nice, clean, like strawberry shampoo.

Aria must have been feeling like a pushover because she fought her off, figuratively at least because she didn't physically fight against her.

"Don't think a few nibbles is going to get my panties back off."

Spencer laughed. "We're sexperimenting right?"

Aria finally laughed, her body relaxing into Spencer's. "God that does sound silly doesn't it?"

She didn't bother answering this time. "Dinner can wait a bit right? Let me make this up to you upstairs."

Aria scoffed. "God you're a machine. You're already ready to go again."

"I'll let you go first this time. I mean you're the expert now. You've got me all hot and bothered thinking about the shower."

Aria chuckled. "Well we can use the bed this time."

Spencer laughed. "Bed, shower, porch swing. Backseat. I'm game wherever."

Aria didn't bother responding, she just pulled away and ran up stairs finally calling out, "you coming?" from the second floor.

Spencer sighed, this should be interesting. Symmetry. Gotta love it.

 **A/N: So I've been AWOL for a while. Had some personal stuff going on. Went back to school and finished my college degree. Self improvement and all. I can't promise I'll be on the site frequently but I can promise I will finish this story. It won't be long, mostly because I'm rusty and haven't really written anything in a while. So bear with me while I get back into my grove.**


	2. Chapter 2

_A: Symmetry was achieved. I had sex with Aria last night, as instructed (If I do, so do you). I didn't think I swung that way, but it wasn't terrible, it was actually pretty fun. Aria is quite the little maniac in the bedroom. Fitz is a real putz for letting her slip away. She wasn't what I envisioned doing when I woke up this morning (Pun intended) but there are worse ways to spend a Saturday night. We fought when I got back with the Chinese. She thought I was being a boy about the whole thing (my words, not hers), hit it and quit it. So, I parlayed that into sexperimenting (she realized how silly it sounds). She's worried about college. She still hasn't gotten in anywhere, I'm not sure what her deal is, she has to have some HUGE red flags to keep getting denied and wait listed. I asked for her transcripts to try and help her figure it out. She hasn't told the other girls, she's embarrassed, thinks she's dumb. She agreed to get them on Monday and give them to me, but I had to promise not to tell the other girls about any of it. We had sex again this morning and she went right back to sleep after. Looks like I finally found her off switch, orgasms. We watched two movies on Netflix last night, those Christmas movies she's always telling us about. The one with the Prince and lady golfer, and the one where the girl has to be Santa Claus. Golfer first, Santa second. And she held my hand during the second movie. The moment the girl gets to the North Pole she grabbed my hand and didn't let it go until the movie ended. Aria will remember that so commit it to memory. She also tucked her plastic spoon from Chinese into her purse. A memento? I'm wearing the pink pajama bottoms with the frogs and my blue field hockey tee-shirt, Hastings 22, on back. You pick our outfit if I have to leave the house._

* * *

Spencer filled Alex in on her night while Aria slept, then went downstairs to make coffee. She wanted to be angry with Alex for the Aria situation but watching the girl sleep had changed her mind. Aria was fun, and the sex wasn't terrible. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing she'd ever envisioned herself doing, having sex with a girl, but she didn't mind it. It was weird at first, but once she committed to following through, things fell into place. Sex was sex, the mechanics were a bit different, but the idea was the same. An orgasm is an orgasm. Alex told her that once when they'd began dating a boy from school named Todd. Alex had called him popular and handsome, but as useless as a box of rusty nails, on several occasions. However, she insisted dumb is exactly what they needed, dumb guys were too stupid to catch you lying. When Spencer protested, a long-term relationship meant intimacy, likely sex, Alex hit her with the infamous line. An orgasm is an orgasm. It was the motto Spencer currently swore by. She can pretend to be the perfect girlfriend as long as he, or she, she supposed, got her off.

She sipped her coffee and contemplated her options at her kitchen island, playing solitare on her phone. Todd had sent her a text, he wanted to have lunch. She denied the request, she was spending the day with Aria, but an early dinner was an idea. She knew Todd was looking for sex and she wasn't interested after spending the night sexing up Aria. She'd give him a little make out session then tell him she'd started her period. He was a boy, a dumb one, so he wouldn't know the difference. Alex could have sex with him on her next turn. Punishment for lying.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there flipping through stacks of electronic cards when she heard the knock at the door. A glance over her shoulder revealed an annoying sight. Alison. Here to wreck her peaceful Sunday afternoon no doubt.

She pushed her emotions deep down and greeted her cousin with a smile as she opened the door. The smile was obviously phony, but Alison would expect nothing less from Spencer. Spending six months on the lam hadn't taught the girl any humility, she still ran Rosewood High with an iron fist and didn't elicit genuine warmth from anyone but Emily. She no doubt figured out she and Aria had the audacity to spend the weekend without including her, and was here to find a way to ruin the fun.

"Hey cuz," Spencer said, using her best Spencer face. No matter who played Spencer there were certain things that didn't change about her. Spencer was neurotic, and obsessive, and she had the Spencer face. A look of confidence but restrained and a little crazy and unpredictable. Alex had a hard time with that one and Spencer didn't know whether to be happy she was finally better than Alex at something, or a bit embarrassed that she was a borderline nutjob.

Alison's face cringed at the word cuz. She'd just as soon forget that her father had sex with both of their mothers, and that they shared a brother. Alison liked being the person in charge, and finding out that their lives were twisted up with affairs and incest made her laugh at first. But the first time Spencer called her cuz, Alison had shivered. Spencer vowed in that moment to call her that at least once a day for the rest of their lives.

"Spencer. For someone who lives right next door, I haven't seen much of you this weekend. What you been doing?

On cue something crashed to the floor upstairs. Aria must be awake. Must have dropped her cellphone.

Alison, always Alison no matter the circumstance, pounced. "Or should I say, who, you been doing?"

Spencer, Spencer smiled, wider. "Aria and I are carrying on an elicit love affair."

The look of mischief on Alison's face vanished. She didn't know anything about her and Aria. Thank God for small favors at least. If she did know she'd have found a way to blackmail them both into some nefarious scheme. At the very least she'd have shown the smug confidence of knowledge on her face when Spencer made the comment.

"Sounds lame, if you'd said Hannah I'd have at least sort of believed you. With the weight off she's a hottie but she's got crazy low self-esteem. If you tell her something sweet she'd probably give you her first born kid."

Spencer wanted to laugh but instead decided on a look of disapproval, classic Spencer. Spencer didn't bash her friends. Not even Alex bad mouthed the other girls.

"Spencer, are you coming back up stairs any time today, I want to," Aria was halfway through the sentence when Spencer decided to cut her off.

"Later, Aria. Alison is here. Come on down."

There was silence upstairs for a good minute, enough time for Aria to get dressed she supposed. She'd fallen asleep completely naked, good times. The thought of her tiny naked frame waiting for her in bed nearly put a smile on her face. Then she almost scoffed when she thought about Aria getting dressed.

Instead of letting things get weird she switched topics. "Anyway, I made a decision about Hannah. I think we should do another intervention. I mean if I were her, I wouldn't want anyone ratting me out to my mom."

Alison rolled her eyes. She was clearly comfortable with being a stool pigeon. "Jesus Spencer, how many interventions are we going to have?"

"As many as it takes," Aria said coming down the stairs. "We need to give her a chance to stop on her own before we tell on her and get her in trouble."

Alison still wasn't convinced. "She isn't getting any better on her own. This will be the third intervention. If she were a junkie we'd have shipped her off to rehab by now kicking and screaming."

That was probably true. When she was having problems with pills her parents had shipped her off to counseling almost immediately. There was absolutely no wiggle room.

"Probably, but we owe it to her to try." Aria was loyal to a fault, usually. Alex said once when pushed far enough she'd crack like an egg. Spencer didn't see it, but she didn't doubt Alex.

Alison, tired of being helpful, or at least pretending to be, changed the subject. "How's the elicit love affair going?"

The question was aimed at Aria. Spencer held her breath, waiting for Aria to give some sort of tell. Shockingly, or not so shockingly considering the Ezra bombshell she'd held onto for nearly a year, Aria rolled right into it without an ounce of nervousness.

"It's going fine. Well it was until you showed up. I was naked upstairs in bed until you came and cockblocked us."

Spencer laughed at the audacity of the words, totally true but so outlandish nobody would think to consider them true. Alison surely didn't, she made a face, not one of disgust just disinterest. The sort of disinterest brought upon by the idea of a secret being kept that you weren't privy to. Annoyed defiance. If you don't want to tell me what you were REALLY doing it can't be cool anyway!

"God, you two are so strange. Speaking of strange, where's that empty-headed boyfriend of yours Spencer?"

That question managed to get a reaction out of Aria, she snickered to herself, but Alison didn't catch it. Aria hadn't had much of a reaction to Todd when she met him. She was friendly to him, but before today she didn't seem to have an emotional opinion about him at all. Sex had clearly changed all that. Today she clearly disapproved.

"We're meeting up later for an early dinner. I know he just wants sex. I'll just tell him I have my period. He won't know any better."

Spencer saw Aria smile to herself across the room. There was something going on. She had to tell Alex about it.

"Speaking of being a tease, Alison, where's Emily?" Spencer regretted the words the moment she said them. Aria's eyes widened with shock and Alison's eyes tightened with anger.

"I'm not a freaking tease Spencer. Forgive me for not just jumping into bed with someone after one cup of coffee." Alison was angry, her blonde hair nearly hiding her face now. Emily was a sore subject it seemed. Through the years Alison wasn't shy about sex, she'd even had a pregnancy scare a while back with an unnamed guy, but sex with Emily was clearly different. The prospect of actually having an emotional connection with Emily scared the crap out of her.

"I'm not calling you a tease Alison, it was a poor choice of words." Spencer knew apologizing was the only way to re-cage the beast, but Alison would stew about it anyway for at least an hour.

"She's home. We had a date last night. A real date. Dinner, movie, a walk, kiss goodnight. We aren't even close to sex. But just so we're clear, if we were, it would be none of your goddamn business Spencer." With that, Alison turned on her heels and took off, pushing right past Hannah who slipped in during the tirade.

"What's her problem," Hannah said not exactly shocked at an Alison outburst.

"Hey Hannah, is that a new top?" Aria, on cue, brought the subject back to what was important, shoplifting. "You didn't steal it did you?"

* * *

 _A: I joked with Alison that Aria and I were having an illicit love affair. Aria told her she was waiting in bed naked for me (she really was!) when Alison cockblocked us. I also called Alison a tease. She didn't take it well. She told me her and Emily's sex life was none of my goddamn business (her words) then stormed out. Alison admitted they had a date Saturday night. Dinner, Movie, walk, kiss goodnight. Hannah showed up as Alison left and Aria asked her about shoplifting, she denied it, but she was lying, she has a tell. Alison thinks she'd sell her first-born kid for a kind word, says she has low self-esteem. Hannah stayed until Aria left. When Hannah left, I called Todd. You didn't say so I wore that black dress you hate. We had dinner at Georgio's (Pasta Salad for me, Steak for him), made out with him, let him get a few gropes in then told him I had my period and sent him home with blue balls. Moron. He'll expect some sex when you make it back home. Enjoy._

 _S: {Sat} Send me a copy of those transcripts. {Mon} Cops called on the neighbors across the street, (the grunge couple with the cat). Domestic violence. She hit him with a flower pot and got arrested, LOL. {Tues} Got an A on the tax exam you took last Tuesday, 97%, you missed something on the 1118 Form (I wouldn't have got it right either, Foreign Taxes, UGH). One more month and we're done with another semester of college. We'll have like 75 college credits when the semester ends! 3 classes and 9 more credits next semester and we're almost done. When we finish law school we have to get into tax law. I know you were thinking defense but there's too much exposure with a high-profile case. We end up on TV once and somebody realizes we (Alex) live in the flat next door. {Thu} Got Aria into three colleges. Tell her you pulled some family strings. They're waiting on her call. I emailed you the information she needs, what I did to help her is written in the notebook in the night stand. Penn State. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. And University of Virginia. They're all crazy expensive but they're the best public colleges in the US. She won't believe you so make her call and speak to the admissions counselor herself. Give her the name and make her look up the number online, that way she knows she isn't being tricked. She'll be grateful. More sex for me! Her, Todd, I'll do em both. An orgasm is an orgasm._

* * *

"Oh my GOD Spence, how did you do this?" Aria was still in shock. She looked like she wanted to dispute it but she'd just spent the last 45 minutes on the phone with college admittance counselors around the country. She'd gotten emails and had been promised welcome packets in the mail. Still, she wasn't quite convinced. Just a week ago she'd been thinking about community college, now she was looking at several big name schools. One not far from home, but her father's favorite. She hadn't even thought to apply to any of them. If she'd been turned down at the tiny Liberal Arts colleges she'd applied to she'd never consider getting into the giants Spencer had turned her onto.

"I had some family connections, that's not really important. What's important is you need to sit down with your parents and talk about paying for it. I may be good, but I'm not THAT good."

Aria wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck and without thinking planted a kiss on her lips. The realization of what she'd done hit her like a bolt of lightning. Spencer's mom was roaming about the house and despite there being zero weirdness about their weekend sex fest they hadn't spoken about it at all.

She snatched her arms away and took two giant steps back. "Sorry. I don't know why I did that?"

Spencer only smiled. "I do. Because I'm hot. And I think it calls for more than a peck. So, Saturday night you find some time for me and we can sex it up."

Aria rolled her eyes playfully. "What makes you think I'm interested in having sex with you again," she whispered.

"Because I pulled some major strings. It solves all your problems and it makes you look like a total badass. All I want is something you've already given me anyway."

Aria stopped pretending to resist. "Fine. One more night of sexperimenting." She shook her head immediately. "We really need to start calling it something else."

"Calling what something else?" Emily had appeared out of absolutely nowhere.

Aria masterfully switched the subject. "I've got some great news. I got three college acceptances."

Emily, everyone's biggest cheerleader, perked up with excitement. "Really, that's GREAT NEWS. Tell me all about it. What are they? Where are you going?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Where you going? I thought we were spending the night together?" It was only 4:30 but Aria was already itching to hang out. The thought made Spencer sad, sad that she was going to miss the night with her. She'd thought about their sexperiments every day since last weekend. Last night she'd even dreamed of it.

"I'm coming over. It just might take a minute," Spencer was tired of lying. Aria had been full of questions today. What time you coming by? What's the plan? Can't you run your errands earlier? She'd gotten incredibly needy out of the blue. Spencer chalked it up to the sex tax. According to Alison women often became a bit needy once they had sex with someone. Men were forced to deal with it because they wanted more sex.

"What's a minute? Ten minutes, thirty, an hour? Tonight was YOUR idea Spencer. I'm game, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to sit around and wait on you like some call girl. Either you're coming over or you're not."

Spencer sighed. God, this was actually turning into a real relationship.

"Babe, I'm coming. Just give me a minute."

Aria laughed. "Babe? What are we a couple now? Am I supposed to call you honey?"

Spencer laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. She'd gone from lying, to stalling, to being annoyed, to sweet talk, to laughing. All in the course of a few minutes. It was definitely turning into a relationship.

"You can call me whatever you want Aria. I'm coming over and we can have this conversation in person if you want. If not, we don't ever have to talk about it again."

"Well what are you waiting for? Get your butt over here."

* * *

Spencer was so over this week. Despite the fun she'd had with Aria she found herself longing for the peace and quiet of the Brookhaven apartment. Life was easier with the quiet. She liked her life, loved it, but sometimes it drove her crazy. Spencer Hastings had it all together, always, but sometimes she wanted to mope in her pajamas. The apartment was a safe haven, a safe haven in Brookhaven, Alex called it. She laughed at the time, insisted she didn't need a safe haven, but she'd been wrong. The apartment was the only thing holding her together at times.

Finding out she had a twin had been a huge shock. She could still remember the day she'd come face to face with Alex. Alex was in her room, wearing her favorite dress, lying in her bed, and dreaming about being Spencer Hastings. The girl who had it all. Spencer had nearly lost her lunch when she saw her. This stranger, in her bed, with her face, wearing her dress. Alex had tried to run, but instinct had made Spencer block the door.

"Who are you?" Simple words to a question she already knew the answer to. Alex was the thing she knew she'd been missing, she'd wanted to tell her that, tell her she'd always known she was there, felt she was there. Her entire life she'd known something was missing, felt a void. She'd tried to fill that void with school, drugs, and friends, but it was Alex who filled it. Still, she could only make out those three words. Words that changed her life. Who are you?

"I'm your twin sister. Alex. Alex Drake."

There were a thousand questions after that, questions she didn't remember asking and answers she didn't remember getting. What she did remember was anger, anger and rage. Alex knew who she was, knew where she was, but she didn't bother talking to her. That infuriated Spencer. "How dare you not come find me. You're my sister. My twin sister. We shared a womb together and someone ripped us apart. And you travel across the entire world to get here and you don't even bother to find me, and hug me, and tell me you love me, and you miss me. How dare you?"

She could see the confusion on Alex's face. Concepts like love and trust were foreign to her. She'd been thrown away by her adoptive family. There had been very little love in her life. Spencer was the very first person who loved her unconditionally, the first person in her life who didn't reject her. The idea of rejection terrified her. It terrified her so much she threatened to run if Spencer said a word about her to anyone.

That was how it began, weeks of gently urging Alex to come clean to her dad. Their dad. Alex hadn't budged. The idea had been Spencer's, Alex could pretend to be her, talk to dad, and see that he wasn't that bad. Alex had jumped at the chance. Dad, to his credit, wasn't a jerk that day. But Alex still didn't budge. She was stubborn. Before she realized it, Alex was spending entire days in Spencer's life, and Spencer was hiding out in the tiny apartment on skid row Alex hid out in. One day turned to two, and rather than risk losing her, Spencer suggested they simply trade off. They could both be Spencer. Alex would never be alone again. She would have a family, and friends, a life she'd always dreamed about having. Alex jumped at the chance.

* * *

"Don't freak out," Alex said when Spencer stepped into the apartment. She was ready for her shift as Spencer Hastings, and was dressed in an outfit identical to Spencer's, a black pencil skirt and a royal blue blouse. Everything they had was in pairs. Part of living a lie was the details. They dressed alike. Every day.

"Why would I," Spencer started to say until she saw the blonde on the sofa. Her heart sank. Cece. If Alex was the sister she loved unconditionally, Cece was the sister she wished would disappear forever. Cece brought trouble, always.

"Hey sis," she said not able to hide the nervousness in her voice.

Cece looked at her, at them, and smiled. "Spencer. It's getting to where even I can't tell you two apart. When you told me, you planned on doing this I thought you were insane. But," she said with a shrug. "You were right. You pulled it off. You're so good at it even I was fooled. When I got here, I didn't know which twin I was talking to."

Alex laughed. "I knew you didn't know."

Spencer shook off the cobwebs. "Sis, you have to go. Aria is expecting you. You have plans. Head straight to her house. You've been texting with her all day, and she's been being really pushy," she pulled her cell out of her coat pocket and handed it to Alex, then handed over her car keys. "I left the purse in the car." She looked around the room. "Where's the other phone?"

Alex pointed to the bedroom. "Charging."

"Any plans?"

Alex shook her head. "No, but there is an inspection in the basement Tuesday morning. Something about the pipes. Oh, and I reworked parts of that paper we have to turn in. Give it a read and submit it online when you're happy." Alex looked over her shoulder at Cece and blew an air kiss. "Anything else?"

Spencer shook her head. "No," she said before thinking better of it. "Yes. When we got home last Saturday, she said we were body snatched."

Alex's brow furrowed. "Body snatched, what in bloody hell does that mean?"

Cece sighed from her spot on the sofa. "It's an old horror movie reference. People are snatched up by aliens and replaced. They look the same and sound the same, but they are clearly different. Apparently, Aria is not fooled by all this."

"Invasion of the body snatchers," Spencer said. "I'll send you a link so you can watch it later, it's a movie Spencer has seen, but now you have to go. Aria is waiting, and she's been nagging us about getting over to her house already." She gave Alex a hug and playfully pinched her cheek. "Love you baby sis."

Alex faked a frown. "Love you too big sis," she looked at Cece on the sofa. "Both of you. See you ladies next week," she said before slipping out the door.

"You don't mind if I crash here for a while right Spencer? I mean I did give you guys the money to live this elaborate lie, the least you can do is put me up for a while. I have some business in town."

Spencer's instincts said no, tell her to go away, but her heart said let her stay. Cece was her sister and sisters always had a place to stay.

"Make yourself at home."

* * *

 _S: Aria got really weird after sex. What in the world did you do to her? I watched those movies on Netflix, godawful rubbish but I talked about them with her. In case Cece was right and she was worried we were body switched. Got an SOS from Hannah during cuddle time so we all met up at her house after midnight. Aria and I drove separately so nobody would know we were together. Hannah finally fessed up about being a kleptomaniac, asked for help. We're telling her mom. Aria kissed me goodbye when we left. A real kiss, tongue and everything. I was going to cop a feel, but she made a bee-line for her car and got out of dodge. Like I said, weird._

 _A: Aria got "weird" when Alison asked me about Todd. I think she's jealous. Is she falling in love with us? Is that going to be a problem? It would explain her rushing off. Maybe she finally realized it and it freaked her out. We should give her some space._

 _S: {Sun} Dropped Dad off at the airport, he had to go to Phoenix. He got out and Melissa got in. Back from London. She picked a fight almost immediately about Ian, and Wren, and whatever other boyfriend of hers you've slept with (her words). Mom told me later she didn't get this big promotion she wanted. Her boss's niece got it instead. Apparently, the girl is a total idiot. I tried texting Aria, but she didn't respond. {Mon} Told Hannah's mom about her stealing. She cried (Hannah, not her mom). Hannah's mom is the best. Promised to get her help, but let her keep the clothes, stealing is wrong but come on, let's not get crazy (her exact words lol). {Tue} Andrew Campbell stumbled through flirting near the gym ladies' room. He's nice but we definitely can't shag him. Naomi and Riley tried talking to us in the ladies' room. Small talk mostly but then they started asking about Todd. Do we REALLY like him, that sort of stuff? I think he might have sent them. It's my fault. I got so preoccupied with Aria I totally forgot to shag him. He's definitely not getting any NOW though. I hate those girls._

 _A: Cece is hanging around for a few days. She comes and goes as she pleases but she isn't causing any trouble. I'm not sure what she's up to but she transferred more money into our account. A lot. 50K. When I asked her about it, she said she had plenty. We have way too much cash lying around now. I mean it's in the bank but maybe we should put it in some account in case something happens. Emergency fund?_

 _S: {Wed} Mrs. Klinger totally flaked on the Trig test, didn't bother to grade it. You gotta let me know how we did. She won't grade it until the weekend. She can't have THAT much to do, its not like the guys are beating down her door with that unibrow. Alison skipped school after lunch, didn't say why. {Thu} Emily is on cloud nine. Alison finally had sex with her. She's been building it up in her mind since she was 14. I was so proud of her we went for coffee and I tried to pry out details. She didn't give me any. Fort Knox. Maya was there with that girl Paige. She was trying to make Emily jealous, it totally worked. {Fri} Sat next to Aria at lunch but she didn't even look at me. She's totally freaked. I've been giving her space like you said but it's not working, she's still being weird. You need to fix it when you get back. As for the emergency fund, sounds good. We can put it in some account overseas or something. Where nobody can get to it._

 _S and A: Baby sisters. Your money is totally safe where it is, but if it makes you feel any better, I took the liberty of opening an account in the Cayman Islands in both your names. It has an obscene amount of money in it. (Bank Book is in the Freezer under the frozen peas). Enjoy. Oh, and stay away from downtown for a few days. I've got some stuff cooking. Love you lots._

 _P.S. Are you SURE Aria is simply freaked out? I don't think that's it. -wink-_

* * *

Cece had been spying. That didn't surprise Spencer as much as she thought it would. Cece knew everything. There was no secret in Rosewood she wasn't privy to. It didn't surprise her that she knew about her and Alex's secret chat room. It should have, that was true, but Cece was Cece. Alex had called her Satan in Satin once, and they'd had a good laugh. She wondered if Cece would be so loving if they'd written that in the chat room she'd been eavesdropping on.

Her week of quiet and relaxation hadn't been too disrupted by Cece. She was only at the apartment sporadically. Her business downtown kept her out of Spencer's hair most of the time. In fact, Spencer hadn't seen her in over 24 hours.

She thought of sending her a thank you note for the money, then realized that was too much of a Spencer thing to do, and while she was in the apartment, she wasn't allowed to do Spencer things. Instead she sat and waited for Alex to show up, so she could go back to her life. She needed to get a read on this Todd situation, and make peace with Aria. Sounded simple enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer called Aria the moment she was back on the road to Rosewood. Alex had told her to 'fix it', as if she could wave some magic wand and make everything better. The last time she'd seen Aria she'd been sure the girl was into her, now she was avoiding her completely.

That wasn't exactly true. Alex told her that Aria dropped by the house unannounced a few hours ago, wanting to hang out. Desperate to keep her close Alex had agreed, figuring she'd find an excuse to slip away. It seems Aria had other plans. Alex said the girl jumped her bones the second she came over, rough and ready she called it. Spencer would have laughed if she wasn't so jealous, Aria was the only thing she missed during her time in Brookhaven as Alex.

Alex had found a reason to slip away, and surprisingly enough Aria hadn't been resistant. When Alex told her she had to take off for a bit, Aria had only nodded. "I have to get home for a bit anyway. Emily wanted to see me about something, just call me when you're done." Alex had been pleasantly surprised, and for good measure Aria had kissed her goodbye, a long passionate kiss. Alex thought it meant they were okay again, without the details, Spencer couldn't be so sure. The hardest thing about sharing a life is having the details but not having the in-person context. There was a lot to be said for seeing someone's face when they spoke.

"Hey, Spence, where are you?" Aria answered on the first ring. Spencer could hear the hum of Aria's motor in the background of her own car's audio system.

"I'm downtown," she said without thinking. The lie made her shiver almost immediately. Cece's warning to not go downtown popped into her head. Even though the trip downtown was a lie, she still felt like she was being disobedient and putting herself in danger.

"Oh," was all Aria said, letting an awkward silence fall over them both.

"Where are YOU, you driving?" The question wasn't a trick but it still caught Aria off guard.

"I'm uh, still with Emily," she stumbled out nervously. In the background Emily chimed in.

"Hey Spencer," Emily said just as nervous.

"What are you guys doing? You sound like you're about to rob a liquor store or something."

The comment made Aria laugh, and suddenly she was making jokes. "We are, you got the ski masks Em?"

"In my purse," Emily said playfully. "You're downtown Spence, it's pretty crazy down there huh?" It was a quick but obvious subject change.

Downtown again, Spencer was really starting to regret that lie.

"I actually haven't made it down there yet, it's taking forever with the traffic, what's going on anyway. Any idea?"

"There was a break in at the Carissimi group." Aria barely had the words out of her mouth when the pieces started flying together in her mind. Cece. Cece was involved with the Carissimi group, which had offices downtown. Spencer and Alex were under the impression that she owned it, but that didn't make sense if she were robbing the place.

"Well that's going to be a pain. Hey, I'm going to have to drive to the other side of town. Where will you guys be in like 30 minutes?" It was a perfect opportunity to explain away her absence.

"We were headed to The Grille but we'll probably just head to the diner instead to avoid that madhouse downtown." Aria's words were suddenly cool as a cucumber now. Whatever had been making her nervous wasn't an issue anymore. Spencer suddenly found herself wondering what they'd been up to. She was curious but decided she didn't want to know that badly. Everyone was entitled to a few secrets. She should know.

"Great. I'll meet you guys there. Where's Hannah and Alison?"

"We're going to go pick them up now, so if you beat us there just wait for us."

"Cool," was all Spencer could think to say. "I'll see you there in a bit."

* * *

 _A: Break in at the Carissimi Group tonight. Supposed to be a madhouse downtown. Aria really was with Emily tonight. They were totally lying to me about what they were up to. I'd be jealous if it were anyone else, but Emily would never cheat on Alison. She's too much in love. We were supposed to meet at The Grille but ended up going to the Diner instead. Aria and Emily went to get the other girls, I waited for them for almost twenty minutes, if I hadn't been on my way back from Brookhaven it would have been like 45. So, I told them it was, and claimed I sat in the car for nearly half an hour before I even went inside. Aria sat next to me at the diner and put her hand on my knee under the table. Whatever had her freaked out is seemingly over, she sent me a text saying she wanted to come over later, to have some fun. The diner chat was nothing that would ever come up again. What everyone was watching on TV (Alison and Aria: Dancing with the Stars, Emily: Sports Center and Cake Wars, Hannah: Real Houswives, all but Miami, Us: CNN-all the girls laughed). Aria's college plans came up, her welcome packets came in the mail. She's leaning towards the University of Virgina, her dad already talked to the Dean, turns out they went to college together and he promised to look out for Aria personally. Hannah's mom found her a therapist, Dr. Anne Sullivan. Alison announced that her and Emily are exclusive. Hannah said we all thought they were already exclusive, but Alison denied it. Emily looked hurt, she clearly thought they were already exclusive too. Aria said she bought something special for tonight (her words). I'm curious as to what it will be, but I'll let you know._

* * *

Saturday night with Aria had been strange. One minute they were hot and heavy and having fun then they stepped into the shower and Aria freaked out and took off. Alex had been right, the girl was being weird. She washed quickly said she had to leave and started to take off. Halfway to the door she turned around, walked back to a naked Spencer and kissed her. Afterwards she was out the door. Spencer tried calling her last night and didn't get a response. She tried again this morning and got the same response.

"Aria bee-lined out of here last night like a bat out of Hell, you two have a fight?" Melissa had been sitting quietly on the sofa reading Forbes magazine for ten minutes before even acknowledging Spencer's presence, and even now she didn't bother to look at her when she spoke. Their relationship had been strained since Wren, but Spencer was sure they were past that. She hadn't so much as thought about any of Melissa's boys since Alex showed up.

"No, but Aria is going through some stuff. She's been hot and cold with me all week. Something's on her mind. I'm going to go over and just ask her about it. See if she'll tell me."

Melissa laughed. "No secret plot, no surveillance, just old fashioned questions? You hit your head or something?"

Spencer sighed. "You know, I'd rather not keep fighting with you either Melissa. Do we need to talk?"

Melissa finally turned to face her, her brow furrowed with interest. "No. We don't need to talk." She went back to her magazine. "Go ask her. That's what a grownup would do."

Spencer wanted to scoff. Great advice Melissa. Of all her sisters, Melissa was the most useless.

Aria wasn't home when Spencer stopped by, so she went to Hannah's, no dice, then Emily's, jackpot. Emily was staring at her suspiciously until she got her talking about Alison. She even tried to pry private information out of her again, remembering what Alex had said about her being Fort Knox. It was exactly the thing needed to ease the tension. Emily was relaxed and chattering on about Alison within seconds and for a brief moment, things were back to normal.

After fifteen minutes of girl talk Alison called and Emily was off to her house to have lunch and watch a movie. With no other recourse than to spend the day alone Spencer called Todd and asked if he wanted to come over. He jumped at the chance, but Spencer dreaded seeing him, and regretted it immediately.

* * *

 _A: Something special was Victoria's Secret, black and sheer. Aria freaked out after sex. She jumped my bones, we had fun, and climbed in the shower afterwards. We were only in for a second before she got weird again and took off. She kissed me before she left, then high tailed it. I called her last night and again this morning, but she isn't answering. Went by Hannah's, she wasn't home. Then went to Emily's. She was. She was weird at first then we started talking about Alison and she loosened up. After about 15 minutes Alison called and she went over. Lunch and a movie. I spend the afternoon with Todd. Had sex with him, since YOU didn't. I think it may be time to break up with him. We need to find a new boyfriend. Be thinking of some names._

 _S: Yeah, Todd is old news. We can break up with him. (The Riley and Naomi stunt left a bad taste in my mouth). What about Andrew Campbell? Too smart you think? I was thinking we could even go way off script and pick someone like Lucas Gottesman. He's a total dork, but he'd be a puppy. We can train him to do the stuff we like sexually, and he'd definitely let us call the shots. Alison would make problems, but we could deal with her. Also, Toby Cavanaugh is sort of cute. He's a bit of a delinquent though so the parents would revolt. And Jenna might be a problem. Thoughts?_

 _A: Andrew is out. He's way too smart for us. Toby is too much hassle. He's cute and I could see being with him long term, but the Jenna thing would be a problem. And the police record thing would cause too much trouble for us at home. Lucas is a thought, but he's in love with Hannah. She wouldn't care though. Its not like she's keeping him in her back pocket as a maybe. I'll talk to Lucas a bit tomorrow at school, kick things off. If we think of someone better, we can walk away. Its not like anyone would believe him if he told them anyway. LOL._

* * *

"Aria are you going to talk to me or are you going to keep pretending I don't exist." Spencer was tired of playing cat and mouse so she tracked Aria down in the parking lot before study hall. Aria was ditching school before lunch, likely to avoid Spencer, so Spencer was finished giving her space. "I thought we were having fun. If it's not fun anymore, or if you're not interested, we can knock it off. Just stop running from me. Stop hiding. We're team Sparia remember? I miss you. It feels like I should be apologizing for something only you won't tell me what it is."

Aria looked at her with those pretty Hazel eyes of hers. "Me and YOU, we're good. There's just something I have to do right now Spence. We can meet up after school and talk. And I mean really talk, about what's been on my mind."

Spencer smiled, "I'd like that."

"Good, tell the girls I'll be back after lunch and they shouldn't wait for me." She offered a wink. "I'd kiss you if I could."

"I.O.U.," Spencer said with a smirk. Aria bit the corner of her bottom lip.

"Absolutely."

* * *

"So, what's a girl gotta do to get her picture taken?" The question caught Lucas by surprise. He looked at Spencer with distrust. Girls like Spencer didn't talk to boys like him, that much was obvious. Well that wasn't exactly true. Hannah spoke to Lucas, but everyone in the school understood that he was her little puppy dog. She could associate with him if she wanted, but nobody else could. Nobody had a problem with it, not even Alison. She still called him Hermie, but she never gave Hannah a hard time about being nice to him.

The rumors about them were plenty. Spencer had heard he was doing Hannah's homework, and that he was buying her clothes, and that he was great in bed but not cool enough to be a boyfriend, so Hannah used him for sex. The imagined reasons Hannah spoke to him were plenty. Nobody else dared speak to him though. Nobody would cross Hannah by cozying up to Lucas, crossing Hannah meant risking Alison's wrath. Nobody would dare do that.

"You talking to me," he asked, goofily looking around for someone much cooler that Spencer would be speaking with.

Spencer laughed. "Yes. I'm talking to YOU Lucas. What do I have to do to get my picture taken?" Spencer arched an eyebrow. "Is it true that photographers and models have an agreement, whatever happens in the studio stays in the studio. I saw that on TV once, but it sounded like BS."

She could see the confusion on his face. He was expecting some sort of trick. She'd have to be much more direct with him. More demanding. He clearly needed to be led around by the nose. That was okay, it was good in fact.

"I'm not a professional, I'm sure it's true," he nervously nodded his head. "For professionals."

Real smooth, Spencer thought to herself. If he had any guts he's have pounced and said it was absolutely true. All the boys she knew would have said yes immediately, sensing the opportunity. He was so pathetic, he was going to be perfect.

"Well, I'm going to need it to be true Lucas. You're going to take my picture. Some elegant stuff. Nice dresses. Some sexy stuff, swimsuits. For my private collection you know." She gave him a smile that made him look nervously away. "I'll give you a call in a few days."

"Okay," he said, clueless about what else he could do but agree.

"Good," she said giving his chin a playful pinch. "Oh, and Lucas, if you mention it to anyone, the deal's off. Our studio time is private. It's nobody's business what we do when we're alone. Whatever fun we decide to have, stays in the studio." Alison always said secrets keep you close. That much had been true, even if it wasn't necessarily a good thing. Boys were much easier though. Secrets kept them in line. Well usually. Boys were braggarts and they'd be quick to tell secrets that made them look cool. She had to be sure to fix that with Lucas, make it so that telling was the very last thing he would ever want to do. Seemed easy enough.

Lucas pulled at the leg of his khakis. Boys, so predictable and easily aroused. "I won't tell a soul."

Spencer nodded. "And your loyalty will be rewarded."

"Uh, okay," he said. "Do you need my number?"

Spencer laughed. "I've got your number Lucas," she said glancing at his khakis. "I've already got your number. I'll call you. A few days, next week at the latest. Get your camera ready."

* * *

 _A: Aria and I seemed to patch things up. I confronted her in the parking lot about avoiding us and she said things were fine. Seemed genuine. We're going to talk after school, I'll let you know how that goes. Lucas is on the hook. Going to get together with him to take pictures (my suggestion) this week or next. He's such a puppy. A million dollars he's a virgin. I flirted with him in the hallway just a little bit, nothing even all that dirty, just suggestive, and he totally got a hard on right there on the spot. He's not hideous to look at, smart but not THAT smart. And I came in calling the shots. Once he gets used to taking orders from us, he'll be easy peasy. Last chance to call it off._

 _S: Go ahead and pull the trigger with Lucas. It's time for a new Todd. We'll deal with Hannah later. What sort of pictures? Don't take any nudes, they'll surely wind up on the internet in six months. What's the plan with Lucas, you gonna shag him? (If I do, so do you!) Good luck with Aria._

 _A: I decided to wait until next week to pay him a visit. I've already been with Todd and Aria this week. Lucas makes it three in a week, and that's extremely slutty. You can do it. We have to fix it so he won't want to tell anyone about me and him. I know you can figure something out._

* * *

"Hey Aria, where are you," Emily asked? Aria still hadn't made it back to school but was checking in with Emily, probably to avoid them calling her and asking questions. In true sneaky fashion she called them to avoid looking as if she had something to hide. They can't say she was avoiding them if she called. Spencer had only told them what Aria asked her to tell them, she's not coming, don't wait around. Alison had questions, she always had questions, but Spencer had no answers.

"I'm coming back but I'm running late," Aria said. She was lying but she was getting much better at it. Emily had put her on speaker phone, so they were all listening. "Who's all there."

"All of us," Alison answered. "Where did you go?"

"Dentist," Aria lied again. She was getting much better at it. "Spencer are you there?"

"I'm here Aria," Spencer answered.

"Take good notes next period, I'll come get them after school."

"Of course," Spencer always took good notes. School was Spencer's thing, it was one of the things that never changed about Spencer Hastings. She was crazy meticulous with her school work.

"Great, oh, they're calling me in, I'll talk to you ladies later." The call ended abruptly but nobody seemed to understand that she was lying. All Spencer could think was, good for her.

* * *

"Is there anything you want to tell me? Anything at all? If you say it now, whatever it is, I won't be upset, I swear. It won't change anything between us Spencer." Aria had shown up afterschool as promised. Whatever she'd been up to had brought her back to school before seventh period no worse for wear. Spencer didn't bother asking where she'd gone.

"What do you want to know?" It was a safe question, but Aria wasn't biting.

"Whatever you want to tell me. I'm not an idiot. I know something's up Spencer."

Hmm, gotta tell her something she figured. "I'm breaking things off with Todd. I think I might start spending some time with Lucas. He seems like a nice boy."

Aria looked confused. "Lucas? Gottesman?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah."

Aria shook her head, Spencer could see the word, why, forming on her lips, but it passed. "I don't mean THAT, I mean anything else. I don't care about your beard boyfriends right now. I know how you feel about me, what you do with some boy so your parents don't find out doesn't bother me. That much," she added quietly.

"I care about you Aria. Todd, Lucas, the man on the moon. None of them can hold a candle to you. Besides being a couple will be complicated. If you want a boyfriend, I'm okay with that. I've learned to share the things I love so I don't lose them."

The comment made Aria laugh. "Share." There was no question or comment behind it, just the single word that she found hilarious.

"It's not a joke. Spencer Hastings loves Aria Montgomery."

She didn't know why she said it. Did she love Aria? She hadn't given it much thought. Aria seemed to be affected by it though. Her suspicious demeanor softened.

"So, you love me? Regardless of your secrets."

Spencer nodded. "My secrets don't affect my feelings for you Aria. Not one bit."

Aria shook her head, there was something she wanted to say but she held it back. "Okay. But I know you're hiding things Spencer. I care about you. Your secrets aren't going to change that."

Spencer nodded. That was easy to say, but she knew it wasn't true. Her secrets would surely change things. Instead of pushing her luck though, she leaned in to give Aria a kiss. Aria surprisingly enough gave her a stiff arm.

"All you get is a kiss. I have to go home to finish my homework. And I need to call back Noel Kahn. I think he's going to ask me out."

The comment stung, but she fought it off. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Aria kissed her quickly and pulled herself off the sofa. "I know you pretty well, there's not much you wouldn't do Spence."

It may have been a joke, but it still stung. "Ouch."


	5. Chapter 5

_S: {Mon} I don't know what you said to Aria but we're golden. I thought she was still angry with us, but she surprised me yesterday morning with breakfast, coffee and bagels. She went out with Noel Saturday night and she said things went well (gag). I don't mind her seeing a boy, but Noel, he's clearly off in the head. Melissa is being nice to us after our (your) chat with her last weekend. Saturday night she took me to dinner at the club. She's going back to London soon and she's going to make the best of the situation at work. I suggested she steal the job from her boss's niece, but she's worried about 'getting fired', chicken. Earlier at school Aria sat next to me and I licked her ice cream cone during lunch (an actual ice cream cone, not talking dirty). Alison disapproved and was thoroughly disgusted. You let her lick your ice cream cone? I whispered into Aria's ear, if she thinks me licking your ice cream is disgusting, she'd really be turned off by the other thing I've been licking, Aria laughed so hard she got ice cream all over her face. When the girls asked her what I said she laughed even harder then snuck away to the bathroom to get cleaned up._

 _S: {Tue} I tracked down Lucas today in the hallway and told him to cancel his plans, it's time to take some pictures. He was scared to death. Lol. Lucas just left. Made a proper man out of the chap. Well, sort of. I made him put on one of my dresses and let him do some stuff. Yeah, you heard that right. I told him the only way my dress was coming off was if HE put it on. The little horndog didn't even argue. We let him get to third base. Seeing as he was wearing a dress, I don't think he'll tell. In any case I promised him more fun later if he keeps his mouth shut. We did take the pictures though._

 _A: Moving sort of fast, aren't we? I just broke up with Todd on Saturday and by Tuesday we're already fooling around with Lucas? That girl from our tax class, with the Carmen Sandiego backpack, asked for our notes. She missed last Thursday? She was going to copy them all by hand before I told her to just take pictures. Oh, that's a good idea. (Her exact words, moron). What is she 65 years old?_

 _S: Loosen up grandma, are you going to slut shame me now? This was YOUR idea. {Wed} I sat Lucas at the end of our lunch table today. Alison had a conniption, but I told her Lucas was currently my 'little helper'. She gave me a dirty look, but Aria (gotta love her) said, we all like Lucas, Alison, he can eat lunch at the end of our table if he doesn't cause any trouble. Halfway through lunch Fitz came looking for Aria and asked her if she had a moment to speak about her English essay. She didn't want to go but she didn't want to make a scene. Before she left, she asked Lucas if he could throw her tray away. She didn't give him a chance to say no but gave him a kiss on the cheek before she left. Fitz and everyone else in the cafeteria saw it. Lucas to his credit played it cool. Getting to see an actual live vagina must have given the kid some spunk because he tossed her tray without a word then went right back to eating lunch as if it were the most normal thing in the world. I was almost proud._

* * *

Cece was home when Spencer made it back from her Thursday classes at Lasalle. After pulling her Ocean's 8 imitation at the Carissimi office, she didn't look any worse for wear. She was asleep on the sofa wearing sweat pants, a Hollis University tee-shirt, and wool socks. Spencer had a thousand questions she wanted to ask but knew better than to involve herself in any of Cece's shenanigans.

After hearing about the break-in Spencer kept her ear to the ground and had been watching the news looking for info about what Cece had done. Apparently only some files had gone missing. The police claimed no financial information had been exposed and weren't exactly sure of the motive behind the robbery. Knowing Cece, it could be anything.

Spencer decided she'd find a tactful way to broach the subject when Cece woke up, but she ended up sleeping most of the day. By eight Spencer dozed off in the comfy recliner and when she woke up at ten to go to bed Cece was gone. She didn't leave a note, but her bags were still in the corner. She'd be back.

* * *

 _S: {Thu} Holy crap, the pictures Lucas took. Awesome. I showed them to the girls and Alison went batshit. She said she had no idea Hermie was so talented. During lunch Hannah made plans to get her picture taken and Alison said she was next. I had him come over after school. He showed up with one of the pictures, the best one in my opinion, framed large enough to hang in our room. I took him to the barn and rewarded him. He's definitely a virgin (He WAS at least), he lasted about a minute, barely got the condom on. It's okay though. We'll get him properly trained. Reminded him to keep his mouth shut. Told him the only way me and him would ever work was if he did what I said. All the time. It was all crazy talk, but I could see in his eyes he was on board, he's not going to disobey us. We'll give it a few weeks and go public with it. Should be fine. Mom saw the picture, she was really impressed. She said I should have told her I was getting pictures taken, we could have gotten the entire family done. When I told her Lucas was in high school, she was speechless._

 _A: Cece was home yesterday. She was here when I got home from class and slept all day. I fell asleep waiting for her to wake up, but when I woke up, she was gone. Carmen Sandiego decided we were buddies now. Wants to have coffee after class Tuesday, maybe study together. I said yes, it's not like I have anything else to do. And I'm sorry about slut shaming you. I forget sometimes that people's opinions don't matter. You know I don't think you're a slut. If you're a slut, I'm a slut. If I do, so do you. I was just having a bad day. I love you. We make our own rules, right? We have sex with who we want, whenever we want. An orgasm is an orgasm right._

 _S: {Fri} Get this. I go to the cafeteria today and freaking Mona Vanderwall, Riley, Naomi, and Bridget Wu have that sketchy homeless boy sitting at the end of their lunch table. Those bitches. Can you believe they went out and got themselves a Lucas? Those unoriginal cows. And with that boy who sleeps in the school? Really? I was going to go confront them, but Hannah stopped me. She said the sketchy kid was cute (Caleb is his name she said), but what do WE care if they're keeping him around? Honestly, she's just happy because her pictures were even better than mine. I mean hers are model good. They're all anyone is talking about. Tell you the truth, I am SO over this week. If I see that Riley again today, I swear to God I'm going to scratch her eyes out._

Spencer sighed when she read Alex's update. She loved her sister with her whole heart and would never judge her but when she got like this, she was a borderline psycho and needed to be carefully reigned in. This always required a call. They didn't often call one another, with the updates there was no need, but when Alex began talking about scratching a girl's eyes out for trivial reasons, she needed more than a few lines on the computer. Spencer was usually able to talk her down by letting her vent her frustrations.

"Sis," Spencer said when Alex picked up the phone.

"I freaking hate it here," Alex said, sadness dripping from her voice.

"Sweetheart what's wrong? Tell me what happened."

"Nothing," Alex lied.

"Alex," Spencer said, this time more forcefully.

"Aria isn't speaking to me again. I mean what the Hell? We've been fine all week, well we're supposed to be. But she hasn't come over to see me once. I mean not even for sex, I even offered to talk and stuff, but nothing. Now today she ditched school and went off to do God knows what. I thought she was getting freaky with Noel, but I saw him in the school library. With Fitz. So, is she with some other boy? Some girl? This sucks."

"Do you need me to come and see you?"

Alex sighed. "No, I'm fine." She still sounded like a hurt puppy. Sad and desperately in need of a hug.

"Head to Ravenswood, I need to see you."

"I said I was fine," Alex protested.

"I know, I'm not. I need to see you."

Alex gave a fake sigh. "Fine. Where?"

* * *

Spencer saw Alex sitting on a swing set the moment she stepped into the park. Alex looked ragged and tired. Her outfit was a wrinkled mess, her hair in a messy ponytail. She wasn't selling Spencer Hastings today. Well, maybe drugged up and strung out Spencer. If her parents saw Alex this way, they'd surely think she were on drugs.

Spencer didn't waste time giving Alex a pep talk. She walked over to her, wrapped her arms around her sister and held her. Alex melted into her arms and buried her face in her neck.

"What happened," Spencer finally asked as she pulled away. There had to be some trigger, there always was when Alex freaked out. Usually it had something to do with dad. Alex was the strongest most capable person in the world but when dad so much as looked at her funny, she crumbled.

"I don't like this. I don't like lying." Whatever had triggered her wasn't up for discussion. Alex didn't like being vulnerable, not even with Spencer.

"Get in the car, we'll go to the house and tell mom everything. Right now. She'll let you stay. She'll have to let you stay. If she doesn't, thanks to Cece we have enough money to get by on our own. I've spent my entire life without you. Nobody is going to tear us apart again. We can come up with a story, bring you home, and go from there. Alex and Spencer from this day forward."

Alex looked down at the dirt, then shook her head defiantly. "You won't leave? Ever? You promise?"

All she ever needed was reassurance. Reassurance that she was loved, loved and would never be thrown away. That's all she ever needed. Spencer was happy to oblige.

"I promise you. If I ever stop coming for you, it'll be because I'm dead. I will always find you. You're not alone anymore. And if dad doesn't want you, he doesn't want me either." Spencer made up her mind the moment she met Alex that she'd always put her twin sister first. She'd been abandoned by people who were supposed to love her, Spencer vowed in that moment that she'd never do that to her again.

"I'm fine, I'll be fine." Alex pushed herself off the swing and stood up straight. She gave her outfit a look and eyed Spencer suspiciously. "We might need to switch clothes. I look like a speed freak."

Spencer pinched her arm. "We ARE a speed freak."

Something in the distance that sounded like glass breaking broke through the quiet.

"And you want me to get naked here. With crackheads and dead squirrels and God knows what else."

Alex laughed. "Fine. Let's get out of here before someone sees us."

Spencer closed the distance again and gave Alex another hug. "You okay?"

"I love you big sis," Alex said. Spencer knew that meant yes.

"And when you're ready, we can tell everyone. Until then we can both be Spencer. Business as usual. And even if you're never ready, we'll figure out how to make it work." She laughed. "I figure it won't be a real problem until one of us gets pregnant."

Alex's eyes widened. "That will be fun. Imagine being pregnant together."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Even if we get pregnant by the same guy, the babies won't be identical Alex. We'll get caught."

Alex scoffed. "Details."

* * *

Spencer collapsed into the sofa and turned on the TV. She'd parked the Toyota Camry Alex had bought on a whim, in the building's underground parking lot after stopping off at Chicken Paradise for takeout. She scarfed down a large chicken salad, drank a diet coke, changed into her pajamas and decided to zone out in front of the TV.

One more night in the apartment and it was back to Rosewood. It occurred to her to do the switch now, it was Friday night, close enough to Saturday afternoon to make sense, and she was already so close to home, but Alex insisted they stick to the schedule. She liked Spencer's bed better than Alex's, Spencer figured it was because she liked living Spencer's life more than her own but didn't bother trying to bring it up.

She watched another half hour sitcom and thought about how different life would be if Alex had always been around. Would they be as close as they were now? She somehow doubted it. The lives they'd led made them who they were, and who they were is precisely the reason they were so close.

Another sitcom began, and Spencer let her mind drift away to problems that can be solved in 30 minutes. She thought the pounding was in her head but when the metal knocker pounded against the wood, she realized someone was at the door. Cece must have lost her key. It wasn't like her to lose things.

She dragged her heavy body off the sofa and without thinking snatched the door open. "Forget your key?" She said the words with a half a grin but when she saw who was standing in her doorway her heart skipped a beat.

"I never got a key Spencer. Or is it Alex?" Aria was staring her right in the eyes, smug confidence on her face. She wasn't sure how the girl had found her but here she was. This was definitely a problem.


	6. Chapter 6

(Aria: Week 1)

"What did you say?" It should have been just a word, one of millions Spencer had spoken over the years, but something about it was different. It was rattling around in her brain since Spencer climbed out of bed, sweaty and naked, and looking so perfect.

The night had begun innocently enough. She'd gone to Spencer's, the one friend who let her cry on her shoulder and didn't try to offer up solutions to her problems. She'd been missing Ezra, and the thought to call him had crossed her mind more than once. She loved him, but their relationship was too complicated. There was always an issue. Social issue, legal issues, professional issues. Every time they cleared one hurdle another appeared. Eventually they decided to call it quits. Aria was doing her best to be strong, avoid calling him, but love was like a drug. Finally, she made her way to Spencer's house.

Spencer listened to her talk for an hour, offering the occasional word or two but never much more than that. The conversation shifted from what she had, Ezra, to what she wanted, and before she knew what was happening, she was straddling Spencer's waist. The night was hazy after that, laughing, when did Spencer get so funny? Making out, damn was Spencer a great kisser. Sex, wow is she great in bed, wild unpredictable and consuming. It was the definition of mindless dirty sex, fun and free but the sort of thing you knew didn't actually count in the morning. After it was over Aria was dumbstruck. Did this make her a lesbian? No, she clearly liked men, but this was something, it wasn't nothing. Experimenting? That was what she settled on, and Spencer agreed. It didn't mean anything, just two friends sexperimenting.

"What," Spencer asked as she toweled herself dry. She'd suddenly lost all sense of modesty, she'd been naked for at least an hour. Aria had wanted to get dressed but she didn't want to seem like a prude.

"Knackered?" The word threw Aria for a loop. It was just a word, but it was a word she'd never heard Spencer use. She hadn't heard anyone use it in fact. It was the second time that night Spencer had said something odd. During sex she'd screamed out Bloody Hell, in a perfect British accent. She explained it away as a goof, even going so far as to call Alison in the fake British accent and asking her if she wanted her bangers mashed. Alison, never one to back down, started cursing and Spencer threatened to flog her with a snooker stick. The whole thing had been so hilarious she'd shot milk through her nose and forgot about how odd it was. That was until they'd climbed out of the shower and Spencer said she should nap a bit because she looked knackered.

"You look exhausted, get a nap, I'll go grab us some food and we can finish our sexperiment." Aria wouldn't have minded the ride to get food, but she was comfortable and feeling pretty good lying around naked. She pushed the word out of her head and turned on the TV. Spencer left to grab the food, a trip that should have taken no more than fifteen minutes on a bad night. She was gone for over an hour.

When she came back, she was back to being plain old uptight Spencer. The food run had killed her funny bone because she didn't make one joke, and she'd been making Aria laugh all night. They'd even almost got into a fight, but Spencer had sweet talked her back into bed. But things were different this time. The first time they'd had sex it had been seemingly for kicks. This time Spencer took her time, stared into her eyes, kissed her gently, held her afterwards and spoke about the bond they'd created. She'd done a complete 180. Dirty sex had turned to love making on a dime. Aria had enjoyed both equally. If round one was pure gratification, round two was connection and intimacy.

When Spencer climbed on top of her and pulled off her skull tee-shirt, Aria simply let it happen. When she looked into Aria's eyes and promised her they'd go as slow as she wanted, as gently as she wanted, and that she could trust her, she'd never hurt her, Aria believed her. Despite the marathon session they'd had earlier in the night, it was like they were touching each other for the very first time.

(Aria: Week 2)

Spencer had spent the better part of the week being Spencer. No British accent, no comedy routine. Things were normal as far as Aria was concerned. She listened to Aria fret about college for an hour then made a detailed list of why Aria shouldn't be worried about getting accepted some place. It was completely ridiculous but also completely Spencer.

Days later Spencer showed up unannounced with college acceptances. Aria hadn't believed it at first, but Spencer insisted she call the schools and verify, even leaving her to look up contact information online so she'd know it was legit. Aria had kissed her, and it had been the sweet and gentle kiss of a girlfriend, love and emotion wrapped in warmth. They made plans to see one another again on Saturday. Aria was actually looking forward to the comfort being with Spencer would bring.

(Aria: Week 3)

When Saturday rolled around Aria had wanted to make a complete day of it. She'd wanted Spencer to come over around noon, they could watch some movies together, hang out, have a good day and when the sun went down, have some adults only type of fun. Spencer had ruined the plan though. She claimed to have errands, but Aria didn't understand what errands couldn't be done immediately to get their day started. She finally semi-threatened to call the whole thing off, and Spencer had relented. It took her over an hour, but she finally showed up.

The Spencer who walked through her door was the fun Spencer, the jokester. They spent the night together and had a great time, but when they climbed into bed Aria felt that familiar excitement. The sex wasn't soft and gentle, it was wild and free, almost dirty, a fun sort of dirty.

The change was obvious. It was like she had a switch in her head that she could flip. One minute she was perfect girlfriend Spencer, then the next she was 'lets bang it out' Spencer. They both had their strong points, hell, together they were almost the perfect girlfriend. That was if she could even call what they were doing being girlfriends. But it was itching her brain, the drastic change in personality.

After they'd tired themselves out Spencer held her in her arms. Even THAT was different now. Girlfriend Spencer held her in her arms tightly, occasionally twirling Aria's hair in her fingers, and said sweet things to her. They talked about the future, the past, how they met, their shared history. Wild child Spencer, who she'd began calling The Brit, in her head, spoke about some movie they'd watched together. There was nothing intimate about it.

Up until that point Aria had began to entertain the idea that they were two separate people. Two Spencers trapped in the body of one. It was silly of course. The Brit knew all the things Girlfriend Spencer knew. She knew that Aria had cut her arm, or poked it really hard, with a Compass in Geometry class in 8th grade and needed to get a tetanus shot. She knew Aria had hid in Spencer's barn for a weekend when she found out she was moving to Iceland. She knew all the things she was supposed to know. And even more important, Spencer didn't have any sort of multiple personality disorder.

A bit after midnight Hannah sent out an SOS, finally fessing up to her problems with shoplifting, and Aria pushed the crazy thoughts out of her mind again. When the night was over, and both were on their way home, Aria, still plagued by questions, decided to test a theory. She walked over to Spencer and kissed her, really kissed her. The last time they'd kissed, Spencer had been gentle, cupping the nape of her neck in a way that really got Aria's motor running. The Brit had been just as great a kisser but instead of gentle she was passionate and excited. She'd even grabbed Aria's ass. Something inside Aria's mind told her to run, so she did. She got out of dodge and avoided Spencer all together the whole week.

(Aria: Week 4)

Aria was being crazy, she knew this. There was no other explanation for it. And worse yet, she couldn't share her fears with anyone. She couldn't very well explain to her friends that there was something going on with Spencer. See when we kiss and have sex it's different each time. She knew her friends, they'd spend the entire night talking about the fact that she and Spencer were now having sex and wouldn't even broach the subject of Spencer's split personality.

Aria knew her only recourse was to lie. Find the most gullible of the group and lie to them. Emily. Emily wasn't a moron, she was stern on some issues, but there was an innocence to her that made her really easy to manipulate. Aria bit the bullet and lied to Emily, telling her she was worried Spencer was back to doing speed. Eager to help, they'd staked out Spencer's house on a Saturday afternoon. Nothing happened and Emily suggested they give up until Spencer finally appeared. She hopped in her car and hit the road. She drove thirty minutes to Brookhaven, making no stops, until she finally reached an apartment complex. Aria and Emily watched her get out of the car, walk inside the building, (there was a buzzer on the door but Spencer must have been buzzed right in) and return to her car and head back to Rosewood. The visit inside took less than two minutes.

Spencer called Aria on her way back to Rosewood, catching her completely off guard. Spencer didn't sound high, but the quick visit had all but convinced Emily that Spencer was back to taking pills. It made sense in a way, drugs made people act weird. It would surely tie things up in a neat little bow. They made plans to meet up with her, agreeing to keep their suspicions to themselves before alerting the other girls, and made a vow to watch Spencer more closely from now on. The first sign of serious trouble and Emily said she'd tell Spencer's mother, damn the strain it would put on their friendship. Aria agreed but decided she'd never rat Spencer out, if she had to lock her in a closet until the drugs left her system, so be it.

* * *

That night Aria decided to spend the evening with Spencer to watch her closely, make sure she wasn't doing drugs. That inevitably led to sex. Girlfriend Spencer was back, saying the right things, staring into her eyes, turning on music in her bedroom and slow dancing with her. It turned out to be the most romantic night she'd had in a long time. When Spencer grabbed her gently by the hand and led her upstairs, she followed with zero resistance.

Sex was soft again, romantic and perfect. When they climbed in the shower Spencer kissed her, really kissed her, and she allowed herself to consider if she were simply overreacting. While they kissed, Spencer's hand slipped to the nape of her neck. Afterwards, Spencer pulled away from her and whispered softly in her ear that she could trust her, that she'd never hurt her, and Aria freaked out. She practically jumped out of the shower, got dressed, and began to head home, before she left she turned around and went back for another kiss. She prayed for dirty talk, or an ass grab. Instead she got a hand to the nape of her neck, she went home.

* * *

Aria was pissed at Spencer for getting back on the pills but she was sure she knew where her dealer lived. Brookhaven. It made sense for Spencer to travel so far away to score. Last time her dealer, a girl from school, ratted her out. This time she was being careful. She was going far enough out of town where she could blend in with her surroundings. Unfortunately, dealing with drug dealers meant eventually they'd give you something else than what you were looking for. A girl like Spencer, clean cut and wealthy, they'd surely try to get her hooked on heroin or something. If Aria didn't sniff out this dealer, Spencer would flush her entire life down the drain.

Her plan was to head to Brookhaven and do some investigating. She knew the building the dealer lived in, but she didn't know which apartment. Or what they looked like. She decided to figure things out on the way. She made it as far as the school parking lot before Spencer found her and asked her what was going on. Unarmed with the information she needed to fix the situation, Aria promised to come over later to discus where her head was. Spencer seemed happy with that and Aria took off from school at lunch to go find Spencer's dealer.

When she parked her car she realized almost immediately what a stupid plan this was. It's not like she could go knock on the door and say please stop selling drugs to my friend. Drug dealers didn't like stuff like that. Her only safe course of action was to get the dealer busted. That was safe. She could find out where they lived, and leave an anonymous tip with the police. With her dealer busted Spencer would be unable to score and Aria could hopefully talk some sense into her. Maybe find some outpatient therapy that wouldn't involve her parents. Hannah's new doctor could help, she'd have to.

Aria gave the street a careful look. It was a nice neighborhood, not exactly the sort of place you'd expect a drug dealer to live. There was a middle aged woman across the street from the dealer's building sitting on a stoop and playing on her phone. She looked like a hippie but she didn't look friendly. She was scowling. In a bind and out of ideas, Aria decided to bite the bullet. She dug her phone out of her purse, pulled up a picture of Spencer and walked over.

"Excuse me ma'am. Do you know my friend?" Aria held out the phone for the woman to see. She glanced half heartedly then went back to her own phone.

"Alex. Across the street. Apartment 2."

Aria wanted to ask if Alex was a drug dealer, but the woman's scowl made her think better of it. Instead she thanked her and went back to her car. The woman said apartment 2 with such confidence she had to be correct. Spencer was here often enough that the woman knew she was here to buy drugs from Alex. It was a start. She hopped back into her car and considered her options. The woman on the stoop was staring now. Aria, suddenly worried her undercover mission was going to be shot to hell, cranked up her engine and circled the block. She parked far enough away that the hippie didn't see her and sat in her car for twenty minutes looking for drug dealer activity. She saw none.

* * *

Aria decided just asking Spencer would be too confrontational. She'd deny it and they'd fight, and she wouldn't be in the position to help her at all anymore. So instead she told Spencer to be honest with her, tell her what was going on, no consequences, no judgment.

Spencer pulled Lucas Gottesman out of left field. Apparently, she was breaking up with her idiot boyfriend Todd, and was going to start dating Lucas. It was completely ridiculous but not surprising. Todd was a boyfriend in name only. He did whatever Spencer said and Aria knew Lucas would be no different. Lucas in fact would likely be even worse than Todd. Todd was at least great looking, and popular, but Lucas was none of those things. He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't going to win any contests. And he was such a puppy for Hannah that if Spencer actually bothered to give him the time of day, she could walk right over him and he'd likely just say thank you. Aria was annoyed by the whole thing, but if given a choice between Spencer dating handsome Todd, or Lucas, she'd choose Lucas.

Spencer wasn't biting, she wasn't going to confess to her pill addiction, not yet. Aria was thinking of ways to force her to do it, when Spencer dropped those three little words. I love you. Well, actually she said Spencer Hastings loves Aria Montgomery. It was a strange way to say it, but it still counted.

"So, you love me regardless of your secrets." It was a silly question, but Spencer was all girlfriend charming. Spencer admitted her feelings wouldn't be affected by her secrets and Aria decided to let it go for now. Spencer leaned in for a kiss, and knowing her, probably more, but Aria rebuffed her politely. Only a kiss.

Spencer's artful handling of her social life left Aria feeling a little exposed. Between her trysts with Spencer and recent breakup with Fitz she would surely start drawing attention. Noel Kahn had given her a call asking her out and she decided it was time to call him back. Noel wasn't Lucas, but he was a playboy, he wouldn't get attached. He was the perfect guy for her right now. Handsome, and a bit full of himself. Not the type to be tied down. Spencer looked as if she wanted to say something about Noel but kept it to herself. Typical Spencer.

(Aria: Week 5)

Aria decided now wasn't the time to leave Spencer hanging so after spending the night with Noel she brought Spencer breakfast Sunday morning. Noel had gone the traditional dinner and a movie route for their first date and Aria had been a bit disappointed. Things were so unpredictable with Spencer she started feeling let down by the typical.

Spencer of course didn't ask about the date, opting instead to make a face every time Noel's name was mentioned. She hadn't ever shown any particular dislike for the guy but that all changed today. Today he was public enemy number one, except she never came out and said it. She decided instead to spend the morning making jokes, putting a smile on Aria's face and trying to talk Aria out of her pants.

At school things got even weirder when Spencer sat Lucas at the lunch table. Aria didn't understand why Spencer had made the decision, but she didn't understand half of Spencer's decisions when she was being The Brit. She'd even made a crude joke about ice cream and oral sex right at the lunch table. Aria had found it disgustingly hilarious and inappropriate. The Brit had a way of making things fun. Aria assumed The Brit was Spencer's high as a kite persona.

The thought of her off somewhere popping pills and making shady drug deals in dark alleys made her sad. She had to push things forward to help her. She had a great time with The Brit, they laughed and joked and had incredible dirty sex together, but if the risk of having that was possibly losing Spencer, she'd gladly give her up.

Aria's life got even more complicated when Fitz came back into the picture. Desperate for a reunion, Ezra asked for a few minutes to discuss 'their situation'. That one conversation had turned to two, then three and all other things fell away. For a few days she forgot about Spencer, Noel, drug deals and spent some time figuring out an answer to the Ezra question in her life.

* * *

Aria did her best to hide quietly in the bushes of the park. Now was the time to get the proof she'd desperately needed to confront Spencer. If she could catch her in the act, Spencer wouldn't be able to deny being back on the pills.

The sting had come about by accident of course. She'd simply been on her way to Spencer's house to talk, she'd practically ignored her all week and figured she at the very least owed her an explanation. What she'd found was a disheveled Spencer, wrinkled and unkempt, very UN-Spencer like, leaving her house.

Spencer climbed into her car and took off down the road. Positive that she was off to score more pills, Aria followed her. The sting took an unexpected turn when instead of going to Brookhaven to Alex's house, Spencer headed to a shady Ravenswood park.

She watched from a safe distance while Spencer made a seat on a swing set and waited for someone to show up. It took ten minutes, but a Toyota pulled into the parking lot, it's lights temporarily basking Spencer in its glow. A shadowy figure climbed out of the car, slammed the door and made its way into the park.

Aria watched with nervous anticipation as the figure emerged from the darkness and her heart leapt to her throat. The girl walked over to Spencer and wrapped her in a hug. Aria couldn't believe her eyes. It was Spencer, and Spencer. Two Spencers. Suddenly everything about the past month came crashing into focus. Spencer seemed like two different people because she WAS two different people. Twins. Spencer had a twin. Alex wasn't Spencer's drug dealer. Alex was Spencer's sister.


	7. Chapter 7

Aria stared at Spencer, her Hazel eyes slowly pouring over her like warm molasses. Spencer wasn't sure where Aria had come from, or even more importantly, how she had found her, but here she was. She could see the suspicion in Aria's eyes, confusion mixed with anger. Her first instinct was to lie, it was always to lie. Her sister Melissa had called her and the other girls pretty little liars once, Spencer wanted to be offended at the time, but she knew it was true. They were excellent liars, all of them, they all had lies they were telling, secrets they were keeping, even from one another. Lying was always an option but she knew lying wouldn't solve this problem. Aria was here, she knew the truth, it would be pointless to lie.

"Aria", she finally forced herself to say. Aria pushed passed her, stepping into the apartment and looking around. Spencer shut the door as Aria's eyes scanned the room, she was no doubt looking for more surprises. She wouldn't find any here. Alex had insisted on decorating the room as plainly as possible. She hadn't even allowed any photographs of them on the walls. Spencer had argued with her about that, but Alex had been right. A photograph of them together hanging on the wall was exposure they didn't need. Spencer finally relented, although she'd been considering having Lucas take separate photos of them and hanging them up. Nobody would think twice about that.

Aria finally turned back to face her. The suspicion in her eyes turned to full on anger. "Spencer, you really need to explain to me what the hell is going on. I mean I thought you were on drugs. I've been following you around, doing stake outs of this place. I've been worried sick. Why wouldn't you tell me what was going on?"

"I'm sorry," it was all she could think to say. How do you apologize for a betrayal of this size? Spencer didn't know. She hadn't even considered it. She'd never envisioned getting caught.

Aria's eyes squinted with distrust. "You're sorry? You've been lying to me for," the comment trailed off. "How long have I known you? Are you even MY Spencer? The Spencer that I've known for years. Or are you Alex-Spencer. The Spencer I've known for," The words died in her throat. "I don't even know how long I've known you, her."

"Aria, there is no HER. We're both Spencer Hastings."

Aria walked to her and gave her a shove. "You know what I'm talking about. I know you're both Spencer. How long has SHE been Spencer?"

"Aria," Spencer began. Defending herself and defusing the situation seemed to be the right move.

"Don't Aria me, not right now. How long?"

"Since September." Spencer could see the frustration build in Aria's face.

"Since September," she asked incredulously. "Seven months".

"Of last year," she added, almost at a whisper. "Nineteen months. A year and a half."

Spencer watched Aria's face morph from frustration to confusion. It was one thing to know you'd been fooled. It was another to know you'd been fooled for so long. She didn't believe it.

"The week of Homecoming. The dance. That was the first night you met her."

Spencer could see the wheels turning in her head. Spencer had seen the pictures of that night and she'd seen the utter joy on Alex's face. Alex told her later that it was the first time she'd ever felt as if she were a part of a family. Spencer could remember all the time she'd spent coaching Alex on being Spencer Hastings. Alex had bumbled her way thorough those coaching sessions but had beamed about how great the night had been afterwards. Any stumbles she'd made that night had been ignored. She'd also spent most of her update talking about Aria.

"Homecoming of last year. That long? That's how long you've been holding onto this, almost two years?"

"Look, its complicated," Spencer said, doing her best to stay calm. Aria wasn't calm, she started pacing the floor, then walked over to the sofa and sat down. Then she was up again and back to pacing. "I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell ANYBODY. Alex didn't want anyone to know. She still doesn't want anyone to know."

Aria looked around the room again with more suspicion. "Where is she? Is she here? Alex get out here."

"She's home Aria. She's in Rosewood, being Spencer. It's her turn. We can't both be there at the same time, we'd get caught."

Aria scoffed. "You're already caught."

"Yeah, but how? How did you catch us? We've been doing this for a year and a half, a long time. Nobody has come close to catching us. How did you?"

"Nineteen months," Aria said, correcting her and ignoring the question. Spencer wasn't sure why the distinction in time was important, but she didn't respond to it.

She tried asking the question again. "Right, and nobody knows a thing. Not even our parents. How can YOU know? How did you find out?"

"Are you kidding," Aria asked. "You guys may both be Spencer Hastings, but I know you guys apart. At least once I look past the fact that you look just alike. You guys couldn't be more different. When I'm alone with you, I know the difference between you. Those differences made me suspicious and I thought you were just on drugs, or that I was crazy. But I wasn't crazy. You may both act like Spencer but there are things you can't fake. And getting close to me, is what got you caught. The moment you get close to someone, I mean really get close to them, you'll get caught. Every time."

Spencer wanted to laugh. She and Alex spent a long time making sure they were the same. They kept the same mannerisms, walked the same, talked the same. It was one of the most difficult parts of living life as one person. People had habits, things they didn't know they did. They had to study one another closely and mimic one another so they could minimize the chances they'd get caught. Spencer incorporated Alex's habits into her behavior and Alex did the same. There were things they each did that they couldn't simply stop doing, habits, but they could easily start doing the things the other did.

It had been a lot of work, but it was successful. Alex often freaked out over school work like Spencer, and Spencer often braided her hair and dressed down uber casual when she was home like Alex. Now having Aria tell her that she'd spotted the differences felt like a betrayal of that hard work.

"Different how, in what ways?" Her answer was a bit too eager for Aria's tastes.

"Are you seriously trying to get me to help you lie better? Right now? That's what's important to you? Not that you've been lying to me for almost two years. Or that you and your sister tricked me into having sex with you both? Your chief concern is how not to get caught again?"

Okay, she thought. This needs to be reined in, Aria needs to understand. "Aria we didn't mean to trick you. I know it feels like a betrayal, but we just need to analyze exactly what it is we've done. Actually, it's not all that bad. I mean if you hadn't found out it wouldn't even matter at all to you. I mean it doesn't even really matter that we lied. You're in a relationship with Spencer, but we're both Spencer so it's okay."

Aria laughed, not with amusement but with the amazement of someone who couldn't believe what they were hearing. "Doesn't matter? You had sex with me. Both of you. Without my consent. Well practically without it. I didn't know there were two of you when I did it. It's borderline assault."

Spencer shook her head. "It's not. You had sex with Spencer Hastings. We're both Spencer Hastings. We both love you. You love Spencer, and you've been with us both AS Spencer, so you clearly love us both. It's not a big deal. Definitely not assault." She shook her head. "This is hijinks at best."

Aria's eyes widened with shock. "Hijinks?"

This wasn't going well, Spencer could see it in Aria's face. She wasn't the one who fixed things. Alex was the one who fixed the broken things. She needed Alex. Alex could talk to Aria and get her to forgive them and things would go back to normal.

Spencer began to search the room for her phone. Her heart was pounding in her chest, the nervousness practically bubbling off her skin. Unsure of where she'd last seen the Alex cell, she tossed all the papers on the coffee table onto the floor. No dice. She looked over at Aria who was suddenly sitting quietly on the sofa.

"I'm not explaining it right. Look. Just let me call Alex. She'll come and she'll explain it and we'll be fine. Everything will be fine when she gets here. She'll make you understand."

Aria was staring at her now. She didn't look angry anymore. Spencer knew calling Alex would be the right thing to do.

"Okay Spencer, calm down. We'll call Alex."

* * *

(Alex)

The second she stepped in the door Alex could see Spencer wasn't okay. She was pacing the floor talking a mile a minute, explaining, seemingly in detail, why what she and Alex had done wasn't a lie. Aria was listening, but Alex could see the concern on her face. Spencer was having one of her famous freak-out sessions. Alex pushed the door shut behind her and walked over to her. Spencer looked at her with relief and excitement.

"Hey, Alex. See Aria, Alex can explain it." Spencer rushed to her and grabbed her forearms. "Alex tell Aria why this will all be okay. Tell her it's fine."

Aria was sitting quietly on the sofa, she looked relieved. Alex ignored her and focused on Spencer. She placed her palms on Spencer's cheeks, looked in her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another, and another. Spencer stared at her, then began to breathe with her.

"Hey. There you are. Just calm down. Breathe with me. Aria is our friend. Breathe with me. We love her, and she loves us. Breathe with me. But if she decides that what we did is bad, too bad to forgive. Breathe with me. We'll respect her wishes. We'll find another person to love. But for now, just breathe."

Alex watched as Spencer's wide excited gaze softened and her rapid breathing normalized. She finally rested her forehead on her sisters and looked her in the eyes.

"Now, tell me. What's Aria doing here?"

"I followed you here, weeks ago," Aria said in the background. Alex didn't bother looking at her. Instead she held up a finger asking her to wait.

"She knows. She knows and she's going to tell and your going to leave. I didn't tell her." Spencer sounded afraid. When she showed up into Spencer's life, she'd been shocked at how easily accepted she'd been. Spencer didn't care about the details, she accepted Alex upon seeing her and spoke of never wanting her to leave. Her twin sister was lost, she'd filled her life with school, with friends, with drugs, all obsessions. But Alex had changed all that, she'd been the missing piece in Spencer's life. Just as Spencer had been the missing piece in hers. Spencer would never betray her. Not ever.

Alex frowned playfully. "Of course, you didn't tell. You'd never tell on us."

Alex knew Spencer was usually the level headed one, the put together one, the one who worried about the bad things that could happen and kept them on task. She was free to be spontaneous, and reckless, because Spencer always had the details covered. Of course, things occasionally got away from her, and when that happened her sister usually freaked out. Freaking out could take many forms, picking fights, storming out and disappearing for a few days, taking pills, and occasionally getting extremely hyper and excitable. When that happened, it was her job to reign her in, keep her from going too far off the deep end.

"I'm going to talk to Aria for a second. You'll be okay?" It was a question that didn't really need to be asked, but at times like this Spencer needed to feel as if she were in control. And being in control sometimes meant being in the driver's seat, even if the car wasn't moving.

Spencer nodded, "I'll be okay."

Alex gave her a hug for good measure and finally addressed the elephant in the room. Aria Montgomery. She pointed towards the bedroom and Aria quickly rose from her seat and snuck inside. Alex slipped in behind her and pushed the door shut.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Alex smiled. "She'll be fine. You know us. We're just high strung."

Aria shook her head. "Is SHE the Brit? I don't remember MY Spencer being that way. You didn't see how fast it happened, one moment we were talking and the next she was freaking out. I mean freaking out. Talking a mile a minute, pacing, throwing things on the floor. I could practically see her heart racing from across the room."

Alex ignored all of that. "The Brit?"

"Yea, it's nothing. It's just how I tell you guys apart. There's girlfriend Spencer, and The Brit. Girlfriend Spencer is the one who makes the lists, and the Brit is the one who flies by the seat of her pants."

Alex laughed. "And she's British," she said letting her British accent seep through.

Aria nodded but was seemingly surprised by the revelation. "Alex. Alex is The Brit. And girlfriend Spencer is the Spencer I've always known. She said you guys have been switching off for almost two years."

"Around that, yeah." Alex said. She arched a playful eyebrow at Aria. "Now when you say GIRLFRIEND Spencer, does that mean that she's your girlfriend. That you like her more than me?"

The question caught Aria off guard, putting her immediately on the defensive. "No. No. Not at all. I call her girlfriend because she's sweet. She listens to me talk and holds me after sex. She's sweet."

Alex's face scrunched with disappointment. "I did all that stuff too."

Aria nodded. "Yes, but you didn't really want to. I could tell. But the stuff you DID want to do. You did really well. You're more fun. You made me laugh and let me be dirty."

Alex walked over to her and slapped her lightly on the butt. "And you're quite the dirty little girl, aren't you?"

Aria laughed. "Stop it I'm mad at you."

Alex scoffed, "Why, I should be mad at YOU. You're the one who chose the other Spencer to be your girlfriend."

Aria's eyes widened. "I never said that. You're both my girlfriend I just call you different things to tell you apart."

"You call her your girlfriend and me The Brit, just to tell us apart. And I'm not supposed to read anything into that? Even though she gets the personal and official title girlfriend and I get the nonpersonal The Brit, we're exactly the same."

Aria nodded. "Yes. Exactly the same. My feelings for you are exactly the same. It's just so I can tell you guys apart."

"So, if I ask, you'll start calling me Girlfriend Brit?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "If it gets you off my case sure, but I only call you that in my head, so it doesn't really even matter."

Alex looked at her with suspicion. "I guess, if you say so. But don't mention this to Girlfriend Spencer. She's already had too much excitement today." She said Girlfriend Spencer with her natural British accent, and with obvious annoyance.

"Are you going to pout about this all night? When do you guys switch back, tomorrow night? Are we going to spend all that time arguing about stuff that doesn't matter?"

Alex sensed her opening but shrugged so as not to weaken her position. "Not unless you bring it up again. I'm ready to go home. We can climb in bed. I can make it up to you. Then tomorrow other me will come and she'll make it up to you. And you guys can talk about your feelings and paint your toenails or whatever else it is you guys do that I apparently suck at."

Aria sighed with frustration. "Jesus, can we go already."

Alex shrugged. "Fine. Let's go. We won't talk about any of this crap anymore. I'll get you in bed and we can have some fun. Deal." Easy Peasy.

Aria nodded. "Deal."

Alex pulled the bedroom door open and ushered Aria out with a wave of the hand. She watched as Aria looked towards the sofa where Spencer was sitting quietly watching TV, and wondered what she was thinking. One word from Spencer and they could be back to arguing about lies betrayal and whatever else Aria saw fit to be upset about.

"Sis, we're leaving. Say goodbye to Aria."

Spencer rose to her feet, stepped to Aria, and gave her a hug. "Bye." Just one word, one harmless word. God did she love her sister at times like this. She always understood.

Aria, apparently remembering Spencer's freak-out, leaned into the hug and gave Spencer a kiss goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow okay. Get some rest. We're fine. Alex explained everything and it's all fine now." Alex watched the kiss with interest, taking note of the way Spencer gently grabbed the nape of Aria's neck.

Details. Aria could tell the two of them apart. Easily, it sounded like. She'd have to fix that. Intimate details. The things she couldn't have imagined would come up. Differences they'd never actually see in one another because intimate details were usually kept private, even among the closest of friends and relatives. She would have to give Spencer another job, more planning and lists. That always made her happy.

"Sis. I'll send you an update later."

Aria's ears seemed to perk up. "Update?"

Spencer, calm as a cucumber again, almost perfect, chimed in. "Its how we talk. How we keep the details straight. We upload the minor stuff so the other one knows what is going on and won't screw up the details. If I talk to Ali about her sick uncle today, other Spencer needs to know in case it comes up again. The particulars won't matter exactly, just that we've talked about it."

"We do this every day. Fill each other in," Alex explained. "But that's not important now. For now, we have to go. I rushed over here, and someone may notice I'm gone. It's the second time today I disappeared."

Spencer pulled away from Aria and walked over to Alex, her head sagging. "I'm sorry I freaked out."

Alex gave her another hug. "It's okay big sister. If you can't call ME who can you call?" She looked at her with fake suspicion. "Will you be okay?"

Spencer nodded with confidence. "I'll be fine."

"Good. I love you. Aria and I have to go, but we'll see you tomorrow."

Spencer nodded. "I love you too."

Aria rushed back over and kissed Spencer on the cheek. "Love you Spence. See you tomorrow. We'll watch a movie together tomorrow night."

* * *

 _S: Aria was upset about being lied to and being tricked into having sex with us both. I handled it, but she's got us on the no sex list for the immediate future. Apparently lying to get girls into bed is frowned upon. You did a good job explaining to her why we did what we're doing. She gets it although she doesn't quite understand. I spent all night trying to explain to her the dynamics of our (partnership, sisterhood, twinship?) she doesn't quite get it, she only has a brother. She said we're different, me and you. Once she said so I noticed how you kiss her. It's different than me. We should start coming up with some signature moves, things we both do during intimate moments. And we should probably kiss the same. Thoughts?_

 _A: I was thinking the same thing. But if Aria won't help us, we'll never be the same that way. I mean it's not like I can watch you have sex and take notes. We'd need her to tell us what to do so we're the same and she won't. I asked last night, and she got mad._

 _S: We'll work on it. BTW, she wants us to let her in on the updates. She said if she's going to be our girlfriend, we shouldn't have secrets. She thinks it would be a good idea if she knows about the updates, that way she can fill us in on the things we miss._

 _A: Well if we do let her in, the cost should be helping us be more the same. If she wants in, she has to be all the way in. So yes, she's in, but only if she teaches us to be the same intimately. There's no other way for us to learn besides telling someone the truth. When we're trained, we can test it out on Lucas. **Delete this conversation before you give her access.**_

 ** _-Deleted-_**

 _Dear Alex and Spencer, or Spencers,_

 _I'm going to make things official with Noel. He's popular, and a boy, and will divert suspicion from me and you. He won't get attached. We went to lunch this afternoon, Saturday, and he asked about Lucas. I said Lucas was our friend and was under our protection. He asked if we were having sex with him like Riley, Naomi, Bridget and Mona are with Caleb? Alison said they were banging him, but I didn't believe it. I told him it was none of his business. That should buy Lucas some street cred. How far should I take things with Noel? It'll clearly be a few months before we're anywhere close to having sex, but I know Noel, that's his endgame. Anyway, talk to you later. Love you both. Aria._

 _ **A/N: As this is the climactic event in the story, I had a really tough time with this chapter. I tried to be true to the characters but also true to the way I've been writing them but it was difficult to make things flow realistically. But we know several things about our characters. Spencer can be a bit a of a nut, she's obsessive and doesn't always handle stress well. Alex is definitely a nut, that much is self explanatory. Aria is willing to overlook serious flaws when she's in love. Ezra's spying, lying, and overall creepiness in season 4 comes to mind. So would she be okay with this? Not right away, but she would eventually forgive Spencer and Alex. This story has maybe one more chapter to it. Sort of a wrap up so enjoy it and as usual I'll be quick about uploading.** _


	8. Chapter 8

"So how does this work? What exactly are the rules?" Aria was doing her best to see things in a practical way. Make her decisions, informed decisions, in a way that that suited everyone. However, that was easier said than done. Open relationships, did that sort of thing work in real life or just on TV?

"I don't know what the rules are, it's a TV show," Alex was deliberately being difficult. She didn't like not being in charge, and she hated not being in control. Even when Spencer was in control, Alex was only okay with it because she'd willingly ceded the control. Aria coming in and demanding things was annoying her. If Aria wasn't careful, she'd rebel.

"I don't mean the show, I mean us. You, me, and Spencer?" She was going to make this incredibly difficult. "If you're going to screw around, I'll just drive back down to Brookhaven and Spencer and I can come up with the plan ourselves."

That got under her skin, Alex reacted as if someone had raked their fingernails across a chalkboard.

"No. You can't do that, it's MY WEEK. Until tomorrow, MY WEEK. You don't get to talk to her. You don't get to leave me and go to her."

Aria took note of the agitation, the frustration. The schedule was important to her. The schedule and control. Alex needed to call the shots and she needed to stay on schedule. Those were her triggers. Spencer clearly didn't mind her coming up with the plans, that was how things worked. Alex needed control and Spencer needed to BE controlled. At least some of the time. Okay.

"I know it's your turn, but if you're not coming up with the plan, then Spencer and I will have to cover your end of things. You're the problem solver, Spencer covers the details, and I still haven't figured out what my end of things is. If you're not going to tell me, we'll figure it out ourselves."

"You don't get to make the rules. You and Spencer don't just get to make the rules and leave me out of things," Alex said. She was getting agitated, wringing her hands. If she were too far gone Aria would have to call Spencer to calm her down. That seemed to be the thing they did when they were upset, call the other. She could be that bridge instead. She could be the person they called when they needed to be calmed down.

"Hey, we're not trying to leave you out, we don't want to leave you behind. We need you." She thought back to earlier in the night when Spencer assured her that she'd never leave her behind. That she wasn't alone. That's what Alex needed, reassurance that she was loved. "Hey," she said as she walked over to her and gently grabbed her wrist. "Hey, I'm here. I'm with you. I'm not going to leave you."

"You're lying, you're going to…" she began.

Aria gave her wrist a hard tug. Reestablished control. "I said I'm not going anywhere. Ever. Don't question the things I tell you. When I say I love you, I mean it."

For a second Alex looked confused, and Aria wondered if she'd misread what Alex needed. Then, instantly, she was looking dejected, her eyes facing the floor of the Hasting's family barn apartment.

"I'm sorry."

Aria tightened the grip on Alex's wrist. "Look at me. Don't be sorry. You can tell me anything. You can ask me anything. Say anything that you want to me. But don't ever question my love for you." Aria pulled her closer, held Alex's wrist to her own chest. "I love you, I love you until I tell you I don't anymore."

Alex quickly nodded in agreement. "You love me, until you say you don't."

Aria leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. "Now, tell me what I'm supposed to do." She asked the question, but she already knew her answer. Getting both Spencers in one place at the same time was risky. When they fell apart, she would have to be the person they called. From now on, she'd be the healer. Their shoulder to lean on. Whatever job Alex gave her would be secondary to that.

* * *

Spencer's car pulled to a stop in front of the Brookhaven building and Aria watched Alex climb out of the vehicle. There was a playful smile on her face as she turned back to Aria and gave her a wink.

"I'll be back in two shakes," she said playfully.

"Yeah, see you in a minute," Aria said as Alex pushed the door closed and rushed inside.

Aria sat quietly for almost two minutes before Spencer appeared on the stoop. She was dressed in the same clothes as Alex, her hair the same, her makeup done just as Alex. Identical, they looked identical. They were the same girl on the outside, beautiful young women. Despite how much they pretended to be the same, on the inside were completely different. Different girls who needed different things. She could handle that. It would take a little bit of figuring out, but she could handle it. These were her girlfriends, and she could take care of them. She had this, she had them, it would all be fine.

* * *

Aria was asleep when Alison, Emily, and Hannah stepped through Spencer's patio door. The TV was on some reality show about Polygamy that Aria insisted was her new favorite thing. Last Spencer heard she was addicted to Dancing with the Stars. Now it was a show about a guy with five wives. Spencer could see the correlation though; their situation was similar. Still, Aria lasted all of five minutes before she was asleep.

When Spencer returned home from Brookhaven for the week, Aria insisted on staying the night. Spencer's parents were gone again, only until Tuesday this time according to Alex, and Melissa had flown back to London. If Aria wasn't around, she'd be all alone, just like back in Brookhaven. She didn't need much convincing to allow Aria to stay. Even with Aria insisting on no sex, Spencer still wanted the company.

"What are you watching?" Hannah seemed happy today. The photos Lucas had taken of her had brought out her shine. She seemed to be smiling more. Spencer couldn't be sure if it was the photos or the therapy her mother forced her to take, but whatever it was, she was looking much happier these days.

"Some show about a guy with five wives. Aria wanted to watch but she fell asleep."

Aria's sleeping head was in Spencer's lap. If Spencer had expected the other girls to show up, she'd have been sure not to get caught in such a compromising position. Since she didn't have the choice, she let Aria sleep. Trying to hide it would only draw more attention to it.

"You guys seem chummy," Alison said smugly.

"Well, we've seen each other naked, after that, all modesty goes out the window. That tends to make you really chummy, really quickly." Spencer usually made comments like that for sport, to get them guessing, but not today. Today she meant it, today she didn't feel like hiding anymore.

"If you keep making jokes about you guys having sex, I'm going to start believing it," Alison said with a chuckle.

"I never said I WAS joking. We've been having sex for weeks. We're not exactly exclusive. We still play with boys. But Aria is the woman in my life."

Aria shifted uncomfortably on her lap and Spencer gave her cheek a gentle stroke.

The girls didn't react right away, just stared at her with confused gazes. They clearly weren't sure how to take things.

"Aria, sweetheart, the girls are here," Spencer offered.

Aria didn't flinch.

"She's tired."

Hannah's confused gaze switched to one of seeming acceptance. Spencer expected her to be the last one to be onboard. Alison and Emily were a couple, she expected them to be accepting. Hannah had always seemed a bit rigid, Spencer expected some pushback.

"That's great. I mean I always suspected you guys were doing it. Its just nice to be sure," Hannah said.

That was surprising to hear. Spencer figured Hannah would be the last one to know, the last one to suspect. She'd always thought Hannah was an airhead, but Alex had assured her she was smarter than she let on.

"Really," Spencer asked. "You suspected?"

Hannah laughed. "All the giggling, the secrets. The whispering. Of course I suspected."

"So, are you guys like a couple now?" Emily was all about putting labels on things. She liked girls so she was gay. She loved Alison, so Alison was her girlfriend. They like one another so they were a couple. She liked things to be orderly, labeled. In Emily's life, everything had its place.

"No. We're not a couple. We just enjoy each other's company. And Saturday is the night we spend together. It's OUR night. It doesn't matter what boys we're seeing. Or what's going on in our lives. We decided we'll spend Saturday night together. Does it mean we're going steady? No. But it IS a thing. So, from now on, on Saturday nights, and only on Saturday nights. You have to call first. This isn't up for discussion."

Alison stared at her, if Spencer didn't know any better, she'd think she was impressed.

"Deal. Saturday nights, and only Saturday nights, we'll call first." Alison looked at Emily and Hannah. "Right girls."

Hannah shrugged, she didn't seem to care one way or the other. "Sure, call on Saturdays. Don't just drop by."

Emily nodded nervously. "Sure," she said with hesitation. "Can I ask a question though?"

"Tomorrow sweetie. We'll ask her tomorrow." Alison grabbed Emily's hand and gently tugged it towards the door. Spencer could see Emily didn't want to leave, but she didn't argue.

"Bye Spencer," Emily finally said. "Have fun."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Hannah teased.

"Looks like they already have, Aria is out cold," Alison said on her way out the door.

* * *

 _A: Told the girls Aria and I were sleeping together. I know what the rule is, but I figured if you get to bring her into our lives without speaking to me first, I get to tell everyone about it without speaking to you first. Symmetry. From now on, the girls have to call first on Saturdays. No more just popping up. They know Saturdays is our night with Aria. They agreed they won't cramp our style. Emily has questions. She's going to ask them tomorrow. Apparently, Hannah suspected we were having sex the whole time. All the whispering, and the giggling, and the secrets, is what she said. And Alison said if I keep joking about me and Aria sleeping together, she was going to start to believe it. That was the trigger that made me tell her. Aria and I spent the night watching a movie on Netflix, Blood Diamond with Leo. Do we still need to tell each other every detail with her? Since she knows we're not just one person anymore. Thoughts?_

 _S: What happened to, you can't just change stuff? I'm proud of you though. We'll deal with the girls. YOU have to deal with Aria though. What did Aria say about you outing her without her permission? People don't like that. As for whether we continue to share our Aria details? Yeah, why not? Her knowing doesn't change who we are. She loves us, she knows we're going to do it. She'll just let us be who we are, and she'll love us. All we have to do is not hurt her and love her back._

 _Alex and Spencer: From now on, the three of us are in a committed relationship. We all answer to each other. No more freelancing. Spencer, what the HELL? And you guys can share every detail of our relationship with one another. I don't mind. But there are things that I want to be private with each of you. Things I'm going to share only with Alex, and things I'm only going to share with Spencer. It builds intimacy and this situation is already weird enough without having to worry about sharing every detail of every day with one another. And from now on, no more tricking me. I ALWAYS need to know who I'm with. The first time you trick me, I'm gone. No more playing Parent Trap. As for the details, we'll figure them out as we go. Love you both._


	9. Epilogue

Ashley Marin took a long sip of her wine and looked across her kitchen table at her guests. She wasn't sure when she'd become friends with Veronica Hastings, Ella Montgomery, and Pam Fields. It had to be the moment their girls got into their first bit of mischief. They became partners that day, allies and friends. That day was a day much like today she remembered, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was wine.

"What's going on Marin?" Veronica Hastings always called her Marin, never Ashley. At first Ashley took it as a slight, as a snooty way for Veronica to say, I'm no friend of yours. Instead she realized it was her way of saying they WERE friends, Veronica was typically only casual when she was being phony. When she called you by your first name, it was usually because she was up to something, or she wanted something from you. Ashley realized her calling her Marin, non-personal and unfriendly, was the opposite of a slight.

Ashley sighed, she spent the better part of a week thinking about whether she was going to say something to the others about what she'd heard. Hannah had told her what she did in confidence, and Ashley hated betraying her daughter's trust.

"I've been wondering if I should say something to you ladies about this. I was worried about betraying a trust Hannah placed in me, and I thought about not saying anything and minding my own business. But I remembered our pact, we'd tell each other anything we felt the other absolutely NEEDED to know." She took another sip.

"And we NEED to know this," Ella asked?

Ashley had always enjoyed Ella's company. She was down to Earth, not like Veronica, and she wasn't stuffy like Pam. Ella had been through things. Like Ashley and Veronica, her husband had cheated, but like Ashley and unlike Veronica she got a divorce. And Ella understood the delicate balance of raising a teenage girl. Ella and Aria had a good relationship, but Ella didn't know nearly enough about her daughter. When they made the pact years ago, Ella had been the most eager.

"Yes," Ashley answered. "If I were you Ella, and you Veronica, I'd want to know."

Across the table Ashley could almost see Pam sigh with relief. Emily was a good girl, her parents insisted upon it. But when she'd come out as gay Pam had taken it poorly. Very poorly. Now she was working hard at rebuilding the trust of her daughter, but it was a long painful road.

"Jesus," Veronica said almost to herself. "Spencer."

Ella, being optimistic, shook her head. "Okay, let's not jump to conclusions."

Ashley nodded. "Ella's right. It's not bad." She finally sat her glass down on the table and fixed her hair, a nervous habit according to Hannah. When she realized she was doing it she quickly pulled her hand away.

"Have you ladies noticed how much time Aria and Spencer spend together?" Ashley was going to cut to the chase, that was the only way to get this over with.

Veronica shook her head, she hadn't noticed. Ashley wasn't surprised by that; the woman was hardly ever around.

Ella however, HAD been paying attention. "They've been spending quite a bit of time together on the weekends. I think they've spent the last few together if I'm not mistaken."

Ashley nodded. "Yes. They have. Look," she finally said leveling with them. "Hannah told me a few days ago, that Spencer and Aria are hooking up." Ashley sighed. "She used the term hooking up. But what she explained to me sounded like more than just having fun together."

Veronica looked confused. "Hooking up, like having SEX. With EACH OTHER?"

Ella's mouth was open, but she wasn't talking. Pam was quietly sipping her wine, her eyes focused on the table.

"Hannah said Spencer told her and the other girls that she and Aria were going to reserve Saturday nights for one another. She also said that on Saturdays the girls can't just stop by anymore without calling first." Ashely finally took another sip of wine. "Hannah said that Spencer claimed it was casual, that they weren't a couple or anything, but I don't think Hannah grasped the implications of it. She's still young. They all are."

Ella nodded. "Casual doesn't get mentioned. It absolutely doesn't rate a tough conversation with your best friends, telling them that this new person in your life is going to be put first from now on. That's," she started to say before Veronica cut her off.

"Serious. That's a serious relationship thing to do."

"Right," Ashley said softly. "It's the sort of thing you don't realize is important when you're young, but once you get into a real relationship, a grownup relationship, you realize how important that conversation is. Like I said, Hannah said it was just hooking up. But what she described to me wasn't that. She said when she and the others stopped over the other night, Aria was asleep, but her head was in Spencer's lap. She said the moment she walked into the room she felt as if she were invading their personal space, even though they were just watching tv."

Veronica shook her head. "Is this even," she began to say before thinking better of it. "Are we sure the girls weren't just messing around?"

"Yes, Hannah's pretty sure. She told me that she thought they were fooling around for a while but its not the sort of thing you can ask a person. Spencer isn't a sharer when it comes to this sort of thing, and Aria is very private about her relationships in general."

"Are they gay?" Pam asked. It was a question Ashley expected, but she hadn't expected it from Pam. Ashley hadn't expected her to say anything at all.

"Hannah's not sure. Spencer said they weren't going to stop dating boys, but she told them that this thing between she and Aria is real, and they should respect it." Ashley sat her glass back down on the table. "Look, I'm only telling you ladies this because I don't want you to be caught off guard. If they've told their friends, they'll probably tell YOU sooner rather than later. I don't want you guys getting blindsided and flying off the handle."

Pam jumped in unexpectedly. "She's right. It's best if you work through your issues privately. The last thing you want to do is react in a way that makes them feel you don't accept them. Emily doesn't tell me anything anymore. A few months ago, Nick McCullers humiliated her at school in front of everybody, making accusations about her sexuality getting her special privileges with the swim team. But Emily didn't bother telling me because she didn't think I'd care. I almost died when I found out."

When Ashley heard that story her heart had broken. If Emily were her daughter, she would have been ashamed of herself. It was a mother's job to protect her child, no matter what. If she ever made Hannah feel so alone that she could be verbally attacked in front of her entire school, yet not bother to tell Ashley about it because she didn't think she'd care, she'd reevaluate everything in her entire life. She shuddered to think about it.

"That story is why I'm telling you ladies. When Hannah told me that story about Nick and Emily," she shook her head. "Well, I promised myself not to let one of the girls hurt that badly without at least trying to protect them."

Pam looked surprised. "You knew about that?"

"Of course, Hannah told me after it happened. Emily cried in Hannah's room for an hour that afternoon. The other girls took care of her, but I wondered why we weren't told. It terrified me that they could be going through something like that and us not know about it. That night I made Hannah talk to me. I made her promise to tell me about the things that make her hurt inside. The things that scare her, the things that make her happy. Real conversations. I swore to do the same. No judgment, no lectures, just two women talking. I want to know who she really is, I need to know."

Ashley wouldn't exactly call her relationship with her daughter ideal, but she was confident she knew a lot more about her daughter than the other moms knew about theirs. Hannah even told her about her problems with shoplifting, something she easily could have kept hidden for fear of getting in trouble.

Pam looked hurt. "Ashley, why wouldn't you say something? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"Honestly," Ashley shrugged, "I wasn't sure how to tell you. The way you reacted when you found out Emily liked girls. Well, you weren't exactly waving the rainbow flag. And frankly I wasn't sure you DID want to know."

Ella, clearly getting uncomfortable, cut in. "Look, I'm sure we ALL knew. I mean I was there, and I still didn't tell you for a week. I assumed Emily told you. The very thought of it made me uncomfortable. But that's why we're here now right?"

"Yes, and the point is, I swore I wouldn't let it happen again. Now Ella, Veronica, I'm not sure if your daughters are experimenting or not. I doubt it. But when they tell you, I don't want you blindsided. And I refuse to let another one of our girls cry in my daughter's bedroom for an hour." Ashley let out a deep breath, relieved she finally had the weight off her shoulders.

"Thank you," Veronica said, already lost in thought. If Ashley knew Veronica Hastings, she was already plotting a respectable way through this.

"Yes, thank you," Ella added. Ashley could see her wheels spinning. Ella would support her daughter through nearly anything. "Wow, I'm shocked. I didn't realize this was an option for Aria. She's never given any indication she was attracted to women."

Veronica agreed, "Neither has Spencer. I hardly believe it." She shrugged diplomatically. "It doesn't bother me. I'm a little embarrassed she's keeping it from me. Peter will freak out, but I'll tell him tonight. He's in New York and he can freak out THERE, far away from Spencer."

"My only request is don't rat me out. If Hannah finds out I told you, she'll never trust me again." That had been Ashley's major worry, that the other moms would freak out, run home and confront their daughters. If that happened it would easily be traced back to Hannah, and by extension Ashley.

"Of course not," Ella said. "I'll wait for Aria to tell me. My concern is the sex. I want to set some boundaries, but I can't do that without letting on that I know."

Veronica seemed to agree. "Well I'm home this weekend. I'll make sure they're behaving, but I'm sure they're going to find their ways. At that age, we all did."

They all got a good chuckle from that. All except Pam. "I didn't, I waited until my wedding night like you're supposed to." Ashley didn't respond, just sipped her wine.

* * *

Veronica Hastings had been tipped off, so she started to notice the subtle things about her daughter's "relationship" with Aria Montgomery. The girls had always been close, but lately it had become something else. She noticed the way Spencer smiled when she looked at Aria. She noticed the way Aria comforted her daughter when she got upset, grabbing her wrists and talking her off whatever ledge Spencer had climbed onto. She noticed the intimacy between them, the lack of personal space when they watched TV, the way Spencer casually rested her hand in Aria's lap. Much too intimate a thing for platonic friends, even best friends.

Today was Saturday, their night together according to Ashley Marin. Aria showed up before noon and the girls spent most of the morning in Spencer's room. Veronica knew they weren't having sex, she had checked on them several times and the bedroom door had never closed. They disappeared once for lunch and when they returned, they seemed to go on autopilot. They laughed and giggled, whispered and played, like all teenage girls. Eventually they fell asleep on the sofa watching TV. It was hardly what she'd call a romantic evening. In fact, it was something she wouldn't have thought twice about a week ago. But tonight, she noticed the way they cuddled, the way their bodies pressed together, the way their fingers intertwined. Again, much too intimate for best friends. She snapped a photo and sent it to Ella Montgomery, who'd responded with a text. Aw, how cute. Yes, they're definitely in love, even if they don't know it yet, Veronica text back.

To her credit, Ella had embraced the whole thing. She'd done some subtle research, figuring out the best way to support her daughter without being intrusive. Veronica hadn't known WHAT to do, so she did nothing. That always worked.

They slept for an hour while Veronica sat at the kitchen island and got some work done. Spencer snuck up behind her and gave her a hug, holding her tight.

"I really needed that nap. I like this house so much. Being here. There's no place else I'd rather be." It was unusually sentimental for Spencer, but Veronica didn't mind. Being in love made you sentimental.

"I spoke with Melissa, she told me you broke up with Todd."

Spencer nodded. "Todd was a good guy. But he started to complicate things. I don't need any complications right now. Especially not from a boy."

Veronica forced herself not to respond the way she wanted to. Instead she gave Aria a glance. "You two seem like you're in a good place. Melissa said you were fighting a few weeks ago."

Spencer only nodded. "Speaking of things being complicated. We were. Things are really complicated between us," she offered a little chuckle. "We're figuring some stuff out. In order to do that, we decided it's important for us to spend more time together. Saturdays. I love the other girls, but it's different with Aria mom. She gets Spencer Hastings. No matter who I happen to be that week."

That was an odd thing to say, Veronica thought but brushed it aside.

"Well Aria seems to value her relationship with you also. Whatever it is you need to work through. Be it with Todd, or with Aria, or with yourself. I need you to understand that I love you Spencer. I will always love you. No matter what happens, no matter what bomb you drop in my lap. I love you. And I promise I will always do my best to understand. You can tell me anything. So, when you're ready to talk, I'm here to listen. Be it about boys, or your complications with Aria, I'm right here."

Spencer wrapped her in another hug and Veronica realized in that moment that it didn't matter who Spencer loved, she was fine with it. Peter could rant and rave and drag his feet until he eventually came to the same conclusion. In this moment she knew she loved her daughter enough to accept her for who she was, there was nothing to think about.

Veronica was no Pam Fields, she wasn't going to run Spencer off by being closed minded. Even Peter understood the importance of not pushing Spencer away. When Veronica told him the story about Emily and Nick McCullers, he realized the danger in reacting with anger instead of acceptance. They both vowed never to make Spencer feel that alone, that unloved that she wouldn't bother telling them about something so horrible. She and Spencer would probably never be as close as Ashley and Hannah Marin, but she could hope. She could at least give them the opportunity to have the sort of relationship where they felt comfortable speaking about everything.

"I love you mom," Spencer said with emotion Veronica hadn't expected. "I know I don't say it enough, but you're a great mom. I wouldn't trade you for anyone."

Veronica laughed. "I hope not," she said. Then she did something even she didn't expect. "I have to step out for a few hours. Will you girls be okay alone for a while?"

Spencer smirked. "Of course, we'll find something to keep us busy."

I'm sure you will, Veronica thought to herself. Instead of actually saying it, she smiled. "Good, I'll call when I'm on my way home." Why not let them have a little fun. There were worse things they could be doing.

* * *

Ella watched Spencer look nervously at her mother, then glanced at her dad. She looked like she was going to be sick. Her heart must have been pounding in her chest because she was sweating. Ella wanted to run over and wrap her in a hug and assure her that everything would be alright. But that wasn't her job. Spencer wasn't her daughter.

Byron was sitting quietly, watching both girls with muted expectations. He hadn't said much of anything about the bombshell Ashley Marin had dropped. He'd always envisioned certain things for Aria, and now he was realizing those things may not come to pass. He'd been more bothered than he'd let on, but Ella had reminded him that Aria wasn't doing anything wrong, all she'd done was fall in love.

The girls weren't stupid though, they knew something was up these pasts few days, they'd no doubt got the sense that their parents were suddenly watching them like a hawk. She wondered if they were afraid of being punished. Or worried about being rejected like poor Emily. Ella would never let that happen. She was eager to be loving and accepting. She and Byron had spent the entire week talking about how safe of an enviornment the house was, reassuring Aria that no matter what happened, she was safe and loved at home, no matter what.

The girls were almost ready to tell them, she could sense it. And the other day Veronica told her how Spencer had almost told her about Aria. According to Melissa, who had seen the tension first hand a few weeks ago, the girls had been fighting a lot. Storming off and having private conversations in Spencer's room. One minute they'd be laughing and happy, and the next Aria would be storming off, slamming the door behind her.

And here they were today, called to the Hastings house by the girls for an important conversation. They must have accepted that there was no use hiding it anymore. It was too big a thing to keep secret anyway. Ashley said that Hannah considered Aria private about her personal relationships. That much Ella could attest to. She couldn't remember the last time they'd spoken about a cute boy Aria was interested in. Suddenly she was full of secrets. Ella had chalked it up to Aria becoming a young woman. She'd never envisioned it being something like this.

Spencer spoke up first. She still looked sick to her stomach. "There's something we need to say," she began. Her words were choppy and soft. Unsure. She was terrified. Ella's heart broke for her. Veronica and Peter had always placed enormous pressure on her to be perfect. Spencer was always pushing herself in response. This imperfection in her parents' eyes, probably kept her up at night.

"Something happened," Aria cut in. "You know how you meet someone, and you grow to care about them. Then one day you realize you care about them more than you thought you did? In a different way than you thought you did?"

"We," Spencer began to stumble out. The words cut out abruptly. She didn't look as if she were aware of what she was supposed to say next.

Aria was forced to step in again. She stood beside Spencer and grabbed her wrists, giving them a gentle squeeze. Suddenly she was staring at her as if they were the only two people in the room. "Are you okay Spence? You know, we don't HAVE to do this today. Okay. It's a beautiful day, we can take a walk, get some ice cream." Aria's mouth fought back the hint of a smile and Spencer smiled in response. Ella wondered if that were some private thing between them. Ice cream. Relationships were funny that way. You go out for ice cream one day, and over chunky monkey realize you were in love. From that day on Ice Cream made you smile.

Spencer seemed to find her voice again. "No, I'm okay. I'm being silly," she said. She was being much too hard on herself. She was always much too hard on herself. She spent her entire childhood trying to be perfect.

Aria let go of Spencer's wrists and brushed Spencer's cheek with the back of her right hand. "You're not being silly," she said softly. It was an act so intimate Ella almost blushed. She thought back to what Hannah had said about feeling as if she were invading their personal space. It was an act so tender and loving that Ella knew Ashley had done the right thing by telling them. Aria seemed to quickly realize what she was doing because she abruptly pulled her hand away as if she'd momentarily forgotten they weren't alone. She took a few steps away and crossed her arms on her chest, tucking her hands under her arm pits.

Ella realized Aria's reaction was one of fear, or worse, shame. She walked over to Aria and wrapped her in a hug. "Girls, it's okay," she said, but she was looking right at Aria. "Whatever it is you need to say, you can tell us. This is a safe space to tell us whatever you need to tell us."

Spencer looked at her parents nervously. The courage she'd found a few moments ago from Aria's words had evaporated. She looked as if she were expecting them to yell at her.

"Spencer and I are thinking about becoming a couple." Aria blurted the words out before Spencer seemed to realize what was happening. Spencer's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Aria wrung her hands; a nervous trait Ella had always found a bit cute. "We've been spending a lot of time together and we're not sure our friendship is JUST a friendship. We think it might be more, and we're thinking about exploring it."

"Is this how you feel too Spencer?" It was Peter who asked. All Spencer could do was force out a nod.

"Sweetie," Veronica said. "You need to say it out loud. It's not real until you do." She was suddenly at Spencer's side, her hand on her shoulder, her eyes poring over her. She looked like a real mother for the first time Ella could remember. She'd always thought Veronica Hastings was a lawyer pretending to be a mother. Unfortunately, Peter was still watching from the other side of the room, he was still a lawyer pretending to be a father and hadn't moved.

"Yes," Spencer seemed to force herself to say. "It's true. I love her. I want to be with her. Promise me you won't be mad." It was as if something inside her suddenly burst. The fear she must have been feeling unleashed and the next thing Ella knew the girl was crying. The tears streamed down her face hard and fast and she wondered how long Spencer had agonized over this.

To her credit Veronica quickly took control. She and Veronica had spoken in depth about the best way to handle things. Veronica hadn't offered up much, and Ella feared she'd secretly try to sabotage things in hopes of maintaining the ideal family the Hastings longed for. Instead she pulled Spencer close, held her tight. "Why would we be mad? We love you Spencer. You have nothing to be afraid of. We're proud of you."

"Your mother is right. We aren't upset. You're allowed to be who you are. You can love whoever you want to love." Peter finally headed in their direction, closed the distance between them. "Lately we've gotten the sense that you girls had gotten close in a way that we hadn't anticipated. I must admit, I was a bit surprised. But I'm not upset. How could I be upset? You're a great daughter Spencer, and your love life," he tilted his head. "Is your love life. It's not an issue."

Despite the outward show of acceptance from her parents Spencer still freaked out. "I tried, I swear I did. I tried not to become a problem. I'm just," she said, letting the next words hang in the air.

The girl looked afraid, deathly afraid of being rejected. Even Aria could see it. Her eyes looked sad, almost as if she would cry. Ella could see she wanted to go to her, but she held back for an unknown reason. They both still seemed scared. They weren't ready to face the world together. They were both so fragile. Much too fragile to handle the Nick McCullers of the world.

"In love," Ella finally said, finishing Spencer's thought with her own interpretation. "You're in love, and you're exploring something different than what you're used to. It's scary, but it's okay."

Peter gave Spencer a hug and kissed her on the forehead, then wiped away the tears from her cheek. "Put those tears away. For now, you guys take some time, figure things out. I want you both to stick close to home for a while. You're safe here, and when you're ready, IF you're ready, you can take it public."

Byron finally spoke up, he'd been watching quietly, offering up no opinions. Ella had expected as much. "He's right. You don't have to have all the answers. Not right now. But we want you guys to be confident and secure, and ready to face what the world will throw at you before you take things public. The world isn't always a kind place. And we're worried about what happened to Emily, happening to you guys. So, until you're sure you're ready to face the world, we want you guys to be discreet."

Aria looked at Byron, more than a bit confused. "You mean you want us to lie and to hide?"

Ella quickly shook her head. "No. Not at all. You should tell your friends, you've already told us. But until you're ready, don't share it with anyone until you're absolutely sure you can trust them." Byron had insisted on Aria being discreet, at least for a while. Ella had fought him, but he'd been right. Seeing the girls today, they weren't ready for the labels and the pressures life would put on them. They weren't Emily. Emily had seemingly always known she was gay. Aria and Spencer were in love with one another, but that didn't necessarily make them gay. They were probably both Bi-sexual. Or Pansexual, as the kids called it.

The Hastings had quickly agreed with Byron's suggestion that the girls be discreet. Ella assumed it was because they hated scandal but after seeing Spencer, she figured they knew how fragile the girl could be. She clearly didn't need any more pressure in her life.

Veronica nodded. "Be discreet. Hang out here, or at Aria's. If you go out, be conscious of the world around you. Aria your father is right. The world isn't always a nice place. Protect yourselves. And if anybody gives you problems, we want you to share it with us immediately. I mean any problems whatsoever."

Spencer nodded a bit sheepishly. "Okay, we understand."

Aria nodded her agreement. "Okay," she agreed.

Veronica gave Spencer another hug. "We'll talk some more about this later Spencer, just me and you. But for now, let us talk a few minutes. You girls go watch TV upstairs."

Spencer gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. She seemed almost relieved. Whatever dreadful thing she expected to happen, hadn't happened, and she finally looked like she'd be okay. "Thanks mom. You're a Rockstar. I wouldn't trade you for the world."

Veronica laughed. "I wouldn't trade you either honey."

* * *

Pam Fields was jealous. Of Ashley and Hannah Marin and the close relationship they seemed to share. Hannah confided in her mother. She told her mother things that normal girls her age wouldn't. She talked to her mother about her friends, her life, her mistakes. It made Pam sick inside. Even something that should have been embarrassing like Hannah's shoplifting, was a source of pride. Hannah had gone to her mother about it, and her mother had gotten her into therapy. The other moms were shocked, but not exactly surprised. Pam had heard rumors about Hannah's stealing, but she figured it would eventually get her arrested and jailed, not put into therapy by her mother.

She was also jealous of Ella and Veronica. They'd handled their daughters dating with a grace and diplomacy that she herself had lacked. They'd provided a safe and open place for their daughters and as expected the girls had come to them. Ella admitted they'd urged the girls to keep the relationship private for now, which she knew was code for secret, but the girls had agreed. Things seemed to be on the right track. Everybody seemed to be happy and content.

She cursed herself for being so hasty. She was the mother who overreacted. The mother who shunned her daughter so badly that when a parent ranted in the school cafeteria to the swim coach about her daughter, she was the last person in the world who knew about it. She was the parent who the world thought didn't care. The intolerant parent. It made her angry just thinking about it.

Jessica DiLaurentis stared at her over the cookies she was baking. Pam had never really trusted Jessica. She, like her daughter Alison, was sneaky and often mean spirited. Pam had grown used to Alison, she'd been forced to, Emily loved her. But she'd never gotten used to Jessica. When Jessica invited her over, she'd gone on a lark. Maybe the woman had something to dish about their daughters. Instead she'd been read like an open book. Jessica had sensed Pam's frustration, she'd been frustrated herself. Jessica had been excluded from the mom pact they'd made. Pam wasn't sure why, when she asked about including her the other moms had frowned. Jessica had grown to resent being rejected.

"I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I do what THEY did? Why don't I have the sort of relationship that Ashley and Hannah have?" Jessica punched her cookie dough with a circular cookie cutter. "You're not them. WE aren't THEM Pam."

She looked out her kitchen window in the direction of the Hastings house. "Our daughters are a couple. A REAL couple. We are real parents, with values and morals. Yeah, they have morals too, but not like us. I was raised strict catholic. When Alison told me she was dating Emily I slapped her. Hard. I'm not a monster. Neither are YOU. We're just different. Raised different, with different values. We had to adjust our entire life philosophies to be what our daughters needed us to be. It took a minute. Sue us."

Pam nodded. "Its just frustrating. To have to sit there and listen to how they handled things so perfectly. Yeah if I'd have been tipped off I'd have handled it better too." She looked at Jessica, resentment in her eyes. "Where was Hannah to tell ME about Emily. Where was MY heads up?"

Jessica shrugged. "Nobody told me either. And what's the deal with that anyway? Ashley and Hannah. All chummy. Alison isn't my bestie. She's my daughter. We aren't friends. She needs me to snap her back in focus when she gets out of line. Not treat her like we're equals. We aren't equals. I'm her mother, she's my daughter. Period."

Pam nodded. "I agree. I mean on what world am I supposed to be Emily's friend? When she was ten, she wanted to dye her hair green. She doesn't know anything, she's a kid. Its my job to prepare her for the real world. Not let her walk around with green hair."

"Absolutely. You don't prepare her for the world by telling her that its okay to like girls, just don't tell anyone about it. That's not helping her. The world won't bend over backwards to accommodate her. If she can deal with YOUR true feelings on it, she shouldn't have any problem dealing with anyone else's, what does she care about THEM? When the chips are down Pam, it'll be OUR kids who stand tall. Mark my words."

"I believe it. I mean if I hear one more word about how great of a relationship Ashley and Hannah have, I'm going to scream." Pam hated feeling inadequate, and this thing with Hannah and Ashley was making her feel inadequate as a mother.

"Don't think twice about it. They aren't that close. At least not as close as Ashley thinks. You know why Hannah told Ashley about her shoplifting?" Jessica offered up an evil smile. "She only told her mother about it because OUR daughters threatened to tell Ashley if she didn't. Alison and Emily saw she had a problem and they made Aria and Spencer vote on what to do. The others wanted to have an intervention, as if that would do anything useful. Eventually they convinced Aria to vote with them, and they confronted Hannah about it. THEN she told her mother. It wasn't because they have some great relationship. It's because our kids were raised properly." Jessica punched another cookie. "Don't let them fool you Pam. Our kids are the ones who keep those others out of trouble. I mean I know for a fact Aria and Spencer have been messing around for God knows how long. A lot longer than anyone knows about. And I heard Emily tell Alison that Spencer has been going to some shady house in Brookhaven. She thinks Spencer is buying drugs again. Alison suggested they search her room for drugs, and if they find so much as a pill, they tell her mother."  
Pam's eyes widened. "Pills, really, again?"

Jessica nodded. "Yes. And it's our daughters who decided to do something useful. Your daughter was worried, and instead of simply hoping for something good to happen, she told my daughter. And together they decided the best course of action. Something that may not be popular, but necessary. And do you know why?"

Pam nodded. "Because we raised them right."

"Exactly," Jessica said punching another cookie. "Exactly."

 **So this is the end of this story. There are a few unanswered questions, but it wouldn't be PLL if we had ALL the answers. For example, even I don't know what Cece was doing at the Carissimi Group. I did my best to hit on all the characters. I think I forgot Mike, but I never really cared for him anyway. I ended the story on the moms because I thought it would be funny to show their reaction to what their kids are up to. I spent a few days working on a fast forward before deciding to head in another direction. Like I said, its been a while since I've written, so this was a good welcome back. Hope you enjoyed it.**


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